[Infowarrior] - DOD selecting firm for 'info ops' initiative in Iraq

[Richard Forno]

Military to select firm for 'info ops' initiative in Iraq
Ted McKenna
August 21 2008

http://www.prweekus.com/Military-to-select-firm-for-info-ops-initiative-in-Iraq/PrintArticle/115740/

BAGHDAD: The US military expects to hire a firm to provide  
“information operations” support in Iraq to counter insurgent  
misinformation tactics. The bids were due on Friday, August 22.

  Army public affairs officer Paul Boyce said the reason for the RFP  
is primarily the military's need to counter misinformation spread by  
hostile parties. Stopping rumors is a particular need for the Army,  
but finding out about those rumors is difficult if the language and  
culture of the area of operations is not well understood.

“We've had an insurgent population that has sought to kill our  
soldiers,” Boyce said. “By communicating with people in Iraq in as  
many ways possible what we're trying to do to help them, and what  
we're trying to do to prevent people from using these ruthless  
roadside bombs that blow up people in streets, in schools and mosques,  
we find that a very important thing.”

Work for the account involves a wide range of communications  
activities, including monitoring and analyzing Arabic and Western  
media; spokesperson training; and development and dissemination of TV,  
radio, newsprint, and Internet “information” products, according to  
the RFP, originally issued by the Department of the Army's Joint  
Contracting Command in late July.

The minimum amount for the one-year contract, with two, one-year  
options to renew, is set at $250,000, and the maximum amount is $300  
million.

Boyce noted that while the US military has gone to considerable effort  
to train soldiers in Arabic languages and improve their understanding  
of local culture, development of that sort of knowledge takes so much  
time and effort, and the need is so great that contractors are simply  
needed to meet the demand.

“Oftentimes, outside contractors bring outside talents or abilities,  
or previous experiences that might not necessarily be readily  
available within the government,” Boyce said. “Or they can bring a  
dedicated resource to the task [that might] already be used elsewhere  
within the government.”

As described in a “statement of work,” provided by the department of  
Multi-National Force-Iraq called Strategic Communications Management  
Services, insurgents in Iraq have sought to discredit US and allied  
forces, as well as the Iraqi government, through various means,  
including psychological warfare, terrorism, murders, and other  
“asymmetric” means intended to counter the US allied forces' stronger  
military.

Public affairs executives speaking on background said the contract has  
elicited a lot of attention from Washington agencies because of its  
potential size, but that firms with previous experience working in  
dangerous, high-security environments like Iraq – such as Lincoln  
Group, The Rendon Group, and MPRI – would have an inside track on  
winning the bid.

“The reasons that Lincoln Group and The Rendon Group are shoo-ins is  
that they tend to be the companies that know how to get people into  
the country,” noted Don Meyer, cofounder of Rubin Meyer and a former  
communications strategist at the Department of Defense during the  
start of the Iraq war. “They have the security background and are  
willing to pay the insurance. Once you establish yourself as being  
able to do this, you tend to gain an advantage in bidding.”

Executives at several multinational agencies said that they were aware  
of the contract, but chose not to bid for it because of the security  
and logistical difficulties of placing staff in Iraq and protecting  
them, as well as the advantage enjoyed by firms experienced in  
developing proposals for this type of work.

Neither Lincoln Group nor The Rendon Group responded for comment by  
press time.