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The Man Who Sold the Iraq War: John Rendon, Bush's General
in the Propaganda War
From Vietnam to Iraq: Sen. George McGovern Discusses the
Lies of War from the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq's WMDs
The Man Who Sold the Iraq War: John Rendon, Bush's
General in the Propaganda War
Investigative journalist James Bamford examines how the
Bush administration and Iraqi National Congress used the PR
firm Rendon Group to feed journalists - including Judith Miller
-- fabricated stories in an effort to sell the war. The firm
has received millions in government contracts since 1991 when
it was by the CIA to help "create the conditions for
the removal of Hussein from power." Iraq wasn't the first
regime change case for Rendon. In 1989 the CIA turned to Rendon
to use a variety of campaign and psychological techniques
in Panama to put the CIA's choice, Guillermo Endara, into
the presidential palace to replace Gen. Manuel Noriega. [includes
rush
transcript]
Earlier this month, Democrats forced the Senate into an unusual
closed session to question pre-war intelligence and claims
of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The move came one
week after the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's
chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby for his involvement
in the CIA leak case in which the identity of an undercover
CIA operative Valerie Plame was exposed after her husband
Joseph Wilson criticized the Bush administration's use of
a debunked piece of evidence for WMDs in Iraq.
So how did the Bush administration sell the war to the American
public? Well a new article in Rolling Stone magazine examines
just that. In it, investigative journalist James Bamford looks
at the role of one of the most powerful public relations firms
in Washington D.C in setting the stage for the Iraq war.
The firm is the Rendon Group and it's founder and CEO is
John Rendon - the former Executive Director of the Democratic
National Committee.
Bamford writes that the Pentagon secretly awarded Rendon
a $16 million contract to target Iraq and other adversaries
with propaganda. One of the most powerful people in Washington,
Rendon is a leader in the strategic field known as "perception
management," manipulating information -- and, by extension,
the news media -- to achieve the desired result. His firm
has made millions off government contracts since 1991, when
it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions
for the removal of Hussein from power."
- James Bamford, investigative reporter and author of the
new article "The
Man Who Sold The War" published in the December
1st issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. Bamford is also the
author of several books including "A Pretext for War:
9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies."
From Vietnam to Iraq: Sen. George McGovern Discusses
the Lies of War from the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq's WMDs
The 1972 presidential candidate looks back at how the U.S.
entered the wars in Vietnam and Iraq. We also play an excerpt
from the new documentary "One Bright Shining Moment:
The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern." [includes rush
transcript]
In the past few weeks new information has been revealed about
the U.S government's deceptions during the Vietnam War. Early
this month new evidence emerged about the Gulf of Tonkin incident
in 1964 that precipitated the escalation of the Vietnam War.
A National Security Agency historian determined that officers
at the agency knowingly falsified intelligence in order to
make it look as if North Vietnam had attacked U.S. destroyers
in the Tonkin Gulf. Following the alleged attack, President
Johnson ordered retaliatory air strikes on North Vietnamese
targets and used the event to persuade Congress to pass the
Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which led to the escalation of
the war.
And just last week, documents were released from the National
Archives that gave fresh insight into the Nixon administration's
efforts to deceive the public over its 1970 attack on Cambodia.
The over 50,000 pages of declassified material include records
of then-President Richard Nixon meeting with aides at a time
Americans were told US forces in Cambodia were there to support
South Vietnamese. Nixon told aides: "That is what we
will say publicly. But now, let's talk about what we will
actually do."
George McGovern was the Democratic presidential candidate
in the 1972 race against Richard Nixon. McGovern was one of
the leading critics of the Vietnam war in Washington. A new
film that looks at his life opened in Los Angeles this past
weekend. It's called "One
Bright and Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George
McGovern." It was produced and directed by Stephen
Vittoria. I was asked to narrate it.
- Sen. George McGovern, ran for president in 1972 against
Richard Nixon. He served in the Senate from 1962 to 1980.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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