BAE 2

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-472958/BAE-Systems-share-200-million-arms-deal-Libya.html
Excerpt:

BAE Systems to share £200 million arms deal with Libya

Last updated at 16:16 03 August 2007

Libya is close to signing an arms deal which will see BAE Systems share a contract worth £200 million, according to the French government.
The country is apparently on the verge of buying anti-tank missiles and radio systems from European aerospace and defence group EADS.
The group said the deal is a MBDA joint venture which includes Britain's BAE Systems and Finmeccanica, based in Italy.
It claims to have finalised an accord to sell Milan anti-tank missiles to Libya and be in advanced talks about supplying radios.
Scroll down for more...

The deal came days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Tripoli

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/22/cecilia-attias-sarkozys-e_n_620600.html
Excerpt:
Cecilia Attias (Sarkozy) 

Regulation not negotiable, says Richard Attias
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivOTyBapdno
Excerpt:

Will the post financial crisis era result in a major overhaul of the world's financial systems as the Great Depression gave birth to the SEC and the FDIC, or will the impact be more confined, like the junk bond scandal that felled Drexel Burnham Lambert and sent Michael Milken to jail? The Deal pondered the question in a video conversation with Richard Attias, who produced the World Economic Forum for 13 years and launched the Clinton Global Initiative. "Regulation is not negotiable, but which type?," asks Attias. The answer will come from dialogue between leaders of the public and private sectors, he says. And that's just what he's organizing now with the The New York Forum, a confab of CEOs, financial leaders and government regulators to be held in June. Watch the video below or download it on iTunes. -- Mary Kathleen Flynn

http://www.prwatch.org/node/9469
Excerpt:

Clinton Global Initiative Hires APCO Worldwide

Submitted by Anne Landman on September 20, 2010 - 4:13pm

Former President Bill Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005 to implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems, like hunger, poverty and access to health care. By some accounts, CGI's effectiveness rivals that of the United Nations in this regard. Ironically, CGI selected APCO Worldwide to help organize its 2010 annual meeting. APCO is the same public relations firm that helped Philip Morris organize a damaging front group in October, 1993 called The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition that helped the tobacco industry fight public health efforts to control secondhand tobacco smoke after the EPA rated it a Group A Human Carcinogen. APCO has also helped industry pin the label of "junk science" on environmentalists. APCO also managed a massive, tobacco industry-funded, below-the-radar national effort aimed at altering the American judicial system to make it more hostile towards product liability lawsuits. The effort, also known as tort reform, was actually an internal corporate program of Philip Morris (PM). PM hired APCO to create fake "grassroots" organizations around the country called "(insert state name here) Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, e.g., "Alabama Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse." Creating the appearance of a "tort reform movement" was a massive undertaking. It involved convincing other industries to join the so-called "movement" to help obscure the fact that Philip Morris was the organizer.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=APCO_Worldwide
Excerpt:

Government Interference and Manipulation

APCO specializes in helping corporations advance their goals by manipulating legislators, and drafting and advancing model legislation and regulations. Key tools A&P uses include the creation of business coalitions and fake, corporate-funded "grassroots" groups tailored to specific issues. A 1995 APCO Associates pamphlet titled "Political Support Services" states

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APCO_Worldwide
Excerpt:
"Pushing Michael Moore off a cliff"
On November 17, 2010, insurance whistleblower Wendell Potter announced that he had witnessed a conspiracy involving APCO to defame film director Michael Moore and to discredit Moore's health insurance documentary Sicko. On the daily television news show Democracy Now!, Potter alleged that when Sicko was released in 2007, APCO discussed plans to "attack this movie as fiercely as possible" and that they should plan on "pushing Michael Moore off a cliff."^[17][18] Potter's allegation corresponds to information he leaked earlier regarding the strategies employed by the insurance trade industry consortium AHIP to discredit "Sicko".^[19][20][21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%E2%80%99s_Health_Insurance_Plans
Excerpt:
AHIP and "Sicko"
On the July 10 2009 edition of Bill Moyers Journal, Wendell Potter, former Vice President of corporate communications at the health insurance corporation CIGNA, claimed that the industry was "afraid" of the Michael Moore documentary Sicko.^[11] As a result, AHIP formed a strategy to "discredit this film".^[12] As part of the reporting on this allegation, Bill Moyers Journal provides May 2007 and June 2007 drafts of a memo entitled "Ensuring Accurate Perceptions of the Health Insurance Industry".^[13][14] This memo outlines the strategy the health insurance industry would use to battle Moore’s documentary. The later draft lists the following as the "5 Strategies We Reached Consensus On":

1. "Debate the System, not the Anecdotes. Set the record straight then get off Moore’s turf and on to ours."
2. "Reframe the Debate: Mount Campaign against a Government-run Health Care system."
3. "Define the Health Insurance Industry Industry as Part of the Solution."
4. "Caution Democrats Against Aligning with Moore’s Extremist Agenda."
5. "Game Plan for Various Potential Scenarios."

The AHIP memos do not list any factual errors in Sicko. The memos instead focus primarily on media messaging in terms of influencing politicians and public opinion.

[edit] Controversy

AHIP's 2005 television ad "Shark Bait" drew harsh criticism for its claim that "lawsuit abuse" by American trial lawyers cost the typical American family $1,200 a year.^[15]
On August 27, 2009, Michael Tuffin a spokesman for AHIP, told CNN’s “Lou Dobbs” program that ”every survey shows strong satisfaction for private health insurance,” as part of the organization’s campaign against health care reform. The non-partisan Politfact watchdog organization found that his words were "half-true." In fact, Politifact said polls have found that often the majority of consumers have varying degrees of satisfaction, but are not strongly satisfied. For instance, an ABC News poll in June 2009 about the cost of health insurance premiums found 23 percent were very satisfied, but a combined 75 percent of consumers were somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied (31 percent somewhat satisfied, 19 percent somewhat dissatisfied and 25 percent very dissatisfied.) ^[16]

http://www.holmesreport.com/agencyreport-info/2003/APCO-Worldwide.aspx
Excerpt:

INTELLECTUAL LEADERSHIP

A key differentiator for APCO has been its unique international advisory council, a cadre of leaders from the worlds of business, politics, diplomacy and media who provide valuable expertise and insight. There were several additions in 2009, including Elliott Abrams, former deputy national security advisor to President George W. Bush; Carlos Gutierrez, former Kellogg chief executive and U.S. Commerce Secretary; Tony Namkung, expert on U.S.-Asia relations; Mark Dybul, former director of the U.S. office of the Global AIDS Coordinator; and Tony Lake, former national security advisor to President Clinton. Other thought leadership initiatives included a partnership with The Washington Diplomat to survey the attitudes of foreign ambassadors, and research into employee confidence and loyalty with specialist firm Gagen MacDonald. And the firm’s APCO Insight corporate reputation research approach continues to gain traction with clients.

http://apcoworldwide.net/Content/international_advisory_council/keystaff.aspx?ksid=0f3d0a69-6e13-4c61-99c3-a9ecee477008
Excerpt:

Services of Focus: Sectors of Focus: Energy/Renewables | Government | Transportation & Infrastructure Regions of Expertise: Americas: Mexico | United States

Bill Richardson Gov. Bill Richardson, chairman of APCO Worldwide’s Global Political Strategies (GPS) group, has extensive experience in public service, academia and the private sector. He completed his second term as governor of New Mexico in 2010, having been elected to the office in 2002.

http://www.factcheck.org/politics/insurance_industry_ad_makes_fishy_claim_about.html
Excerpt:
On April 4, the insurance industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released a TV ad called “Shark Bait” that will run through the entire month on national cable channels, accompanied by print ads appearing in various Washington, DC publications. According to a press release, the ad campaign

America's Health Insurance Plans Ad: "Shark Bite"

Announcer: They're circling. America's trial lawyers are on the prowl. And your health care is still their favorite bait. Their lawsuit feeding frenzy costs every American household up to $1,200 a year in higher medical bills. That's money that could have gone in your pocket. Now it's just fish food. It's time for Congress to stop lawsuit abuse. Because until they do, it won't be safe for anyone to go back in the water.

highlights the cost of malpractice lawsuits and shows how trial lawyers “have set their sights on opposing medical liability reform.” The sponsor is an association of nearly 1,300 providers of health insurance, including such giants as Aetna, Cigna and many Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations.

http://www.baesystems.com/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2002/press_09042002.html
Excerpt:

BAE SYSTEMS to represent uk interests in nato iff working group

09 Apr 2002

BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to provide continued technical support to the NATO Air Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) Working Group. This permanent body is responsible for control of the further development of the IFF Mode 5 system architecture and associated standards within the NATO Standardisation Agreement (STANAG) 4193.

Sarkozy earned widespread plaudits in France after his visit to Tripoli but the opposition Socialists questioned selling arms to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
They called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry to establish whether the sale was related to the release of the medics.
"There's a further question, which doesn't have to do with a commission of inquiry, which is, should we have arms deals with a country like Libya, ruled by Gaddafi?" Socialist party leader Francois Hollande told France Inter radio.
Libya started emerging from international isolation in 2003 when it agreed to halt a weapons programme prohibited by the United Nations and pay compensation for the bombing of a U.S. airliner over Scotland in 1988 in which 270 people were killed.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Finmeccanica
Excerpt:

Finmeccanica

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search

Finmeccanica is the fourth largest defence manufacturer in Europe and in the top ten in the world [1]. The Italian company generates revenue of around $5.9bn through its military operations, which include aircraft, radar systems, combat vehicles, ammunition, command/control systems, space systems, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Bryen_Stephen
Excerpt:

Stephen Bryen

last updated: May 23, 2007

• Finmeccanica, Inc.: President
• Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs: Former Head
• Center for Security Policy: Former Adviser

Please note: IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.

Stephen D. Bryen is a longtime Washington insider. He is president of the defense contractor Finmeccanica, Inc., which is the U.S. branch of the Italian arms maker that maintains close ties to many Republican Party elites. Bryen is also closely connected to various high-profile neoconservatives like Richard Perle, under whom Bryen served when Perle was President Ronald Reagan's assistant secretary of defense, and has supported the work of a number of hardline pro-Israel groups like the Center for Security Policy (CSP) and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).

http://www.jinsa.org/events-programs/jackson-award-dinners/jinsa-bestows-distinguished-service-award-upon-senator-jon-kyl
Excerpt:
The Grateful Nation Awards presentations began with a short address from Dr. Stephen D. Bryen, President of Finmeccanica North America, co-sponsor with JINSA of the Grateful Nation Awards. Dr. Bryen noted that the Grateful Nation Award recipients were each nominated by their commanding officers and chosen by the senior leadership of their respective services for their exceptional service in the War on Terror.

http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Jewish_Institute_for_National_Security_Affairs
Excerpt:

The Israel Lobby-Military-Industrial Complex nexus

In fact, JINSA is one of the key pro Israel lobby groups. Ed Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan note that:

JINSA is run by individuals closely identified with Israeli interests and may be regarded as a virtual lobbying organization for the state of Israel as well as a terrorism institute. The two are closely related, as one aspect of lobbying for Israel consists of trying to discredit the Palestinians and PLO as terrorists. JINSA also illustrates the multinational character and ambiguity of affiliation of the institutes and experts in the terrorism industry. JINSA vice-president Morris J. Amitay is former head of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major pro-Israel lobbying organization. ^[3] Others affiliated with JINSA as founders and board or advisory board members include Michael Ledeen and Walter Laqueur of CSIS, Jack Kemp, retired Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, and Max Kampelman, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and Eugene Rostow, the latter three all Reagan administration officials as well as members of the Committee on the Present Danger and Committee for a Democratic Majority. ^[4]

JINSA has produced numerous studies and newsletters detailing Soviet support for the PLO and alleging PLO backing for international terrorism, central points of Israeli propaganda. Until 1981, the JINSA newsletter was edited by the institute's executive director, Dr. Stephen Bryen, a former staffer for New Jersey Republican Senator Clifford Case. In 1979, Bryen had gone to work for the Coalition for a Democratic Majority. By 1980, he was running JINSA, and in 1981 he joined the Pentagon to work with Richard Perle.^[5]

Other critics agree, that JINSA, in association with Frank Gaffney's Center for Security Policy is part of a cooperative initiative to influence governmental affairs in Washington in a manner favorable to Israeli, or Zionist, interests.^[6]

http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Douglas_Feith
Excerpt:
Douglas Jay Feith served as the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, the third ranking civilian position at the Pentagon, from July 2001 until his resignation effective August 8, 2005. Feith, a hardline Zionist, previously served on the White House National Security staff under Richard Allen during Ronald Reagan's first term in office. He was dismissed when Judge William Clark replaced Allen. Allegations of improperly handling classified materials were made but Feith was not prosecuted. During Reagan's second term in office, Feith was part of Richard N. Perle's Pentagon team.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Study_Group_on_a_New_Israeli_Strategy_Toward_2000
Excerpt:

Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000

From SourceWatch

Jump to: navigation, search

The 1996 Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000 for the Washington, DC/Israel-based think tank Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies "advised Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu 'to work closely with Turkey and Jordan to contain, destabilize, and roll back' regional threats, help overthrow [Saddam] Hussein, and strike 'Syrian military targets in Lebanon' and possibly in Syria proper." [1][2]

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Cheney-Rumsfeld_Cabal_Deception
Excerpt:
"Levin noted in a prepared statement that, beginning in September 2002," President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, "then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet, and then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell used the alleged chemical and biological training by Baghdad as valid intelligence in speeches and public appearances to gather support for the Iraq war," Pincus wrote.
"'The newly declassified information provides additional dramatic evidence that the administration's prewar statements regarding links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda represents an incredible deception,' Levin said."

---