THE PEACOCK REPORT (TPR)

'Free' Wireless Internet Project Underway

The deployment of wireless Internet infrastructure -- and the subsequent provision of free access to the world wide web to all Americans -- is an idea that's been circulating in technology policy circles for years. Indeed, the Federal Communications Commission only recently revisited the prospect of free wireless Internet access this past month. And now the U.S. government is taking firm action on the matter -- the only problem, however, is that it is not taking action here in the U.S.

On the contrary, the U.S. (unrelated to the above-mentioned FCC proceeding) is handing over nearly a half-million dollars to a Palestinian company to accomplish that task in the West Bank. Specifically, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) will pay for a "technical assistance" contract that will be outsourced to an unidentified vendor; the vendor -- which must be a U.S. company -- in turn will map out the necessary steps for Ramallah-based BCI Communications & Advanced Technologies, Ltd. to carry out the infrastructure project, according to a procurement document dated June 9 that The Peacock Report has located.

Ultimately, the U.S. taxpayer-funded endeavor will pad the pockets of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola, whose equipment BCI would use for the project.

 

Details of U.S.-Funded Pakistan Media Plan Revealed

Details of a plan to blanket Pakistani media with U.S. government-supplied messages were discovered this past week, when the U.S. Agency for Internatonal Development (USAID) stepped up its search for a contractor capable of carrying out a propaganda mission on its behalf. USAID on Thursday (June 19) released a formal Request for Proposals/Statement of Work containing specifics of the public-perception endeavor. The document asserted that, despite annually providing about a half-billion dollars in "developmental" aid to Pakistan, U.S. assistance does not receive adequate recognition." It did not, however, refer to military and technical assistance that the U.S. provides to that nation. Rather, the agency pointed out that:

A September 2007 survey by the U.S. Institute of Peace indicates that a remarkably high 86 percent of urban Pakistanis agreed that it was a U.S. goal to "weaken and divide the Islamic world," and that view is growing. The survey also highlights the urban Pakistani view that the United States is an untrustworthy superpower. A 64 percent majority expressed doubt that the United States could be trusted "to act responsibly in the world.

The U.S. Secretary of State has made the showcasing of America’s development work a priority foreign policy goal. To support this goal and to alter anti-American perceptions, the USAID Mission will launch an intensive public awareness campaign designed to reach the greatest number of Pakistanis (urban and rural) via newspaper, billboard, radio and television communication. These messages will communicate how USAID-assisted programs make Pakistan a healthier, better educated and more prosperous country.

The Peacock Report recently broke the story on this project, which formally is known as the "USAID/Pakistan Outreach Campaign" (TPR, 6/08). The initiative, though ambitious in scope, is modest in financial terms. The estimated value of the contract -- which could be awarded by summer's end -- is $600,000.

Senate Report Condemns Bush Falsification of Iraq 'Evidence'

Summing up its Phase II Final Report on Prewar Iraqi Intelligence,U.S.Senate Intelligence Committee Chmn. Jay Rockefeller [D.-W.Va.) today said:

"Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence.

"In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq as much greater than actually existed."

A bipartisan 10-5 majority voted in favor of the report. The panel said that intelligence was unable to substantiate "statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State" suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa’ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa’ida with weapons training,

The committee also rejected:

1) "Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information;

2) Statements by President Bush and Vice President Cheney regarding the postwar situation in Iraq, in terms of the political, security, and economic, did not reflect the concerns and uncertainties expressed in the intelligence products;

3) Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq’s chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community’s uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing:

4) The Secretary of Defense’s statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information.

5) The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed.

U.S. Propaganda Blitz to Unfold in Pakistan

A propaganda blitz aimed at swaying Pakistani citizens' views on U.S. involvement in the region is about to unfold, The Peacock Report (TPR) has discovered. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday commenced its search for a contractor capable of carrying out the euphemistically titled "USAID/Pakistan Outreach Campaign," as the project officially is known. According to a "presolicitation notice" dated June 5 that TPR has located, the agency envisions a multi-language delivery of U.S. government messages in urban as well as rural areas of Pakistan. The contractor will execute the campaign in English, Urdu, Pashtu, Punjabi, and other regonal languages. This USAID endeavor will place messages in newspapers, magazines, and billboards as well as radio and television broadcasts, according to the document. The agency will make available a formal and more detailed solicitation later this month. USAID hopes to launch the Pakistani campaign by summer's end.

Afghanistan Media Adviser Document Missing

The Peacock Report (TPR) last year broke the story about USAID's planned deployment of a so-called "cognizant technical officer"  to Afghanistan, where this private contractor purportedly would be tasked with fostering the growth of independent media. An accompanying planning document, which TPR had uploaded to this site via the piece USAID Recruiting Independent Media Consultant for Afghanistan, has mysteriously disappeared.

Adding to this mystery is the fact that the document similarly has been relegated to the Orwellian memory hole of FedBizOpps, the U.S. government contracting-opportunities database. Though FedBizOpps typically places such documents in a searchable database of archived material, a search today of the system produced no such document or related literature. TPR is looking into this matter, and will report any developments as soon as possible.

USAID Set to Unveil West Bank/Gaza Infrastructure Project

Details of a U.S.-financed West Bank/Gaza reconstruction project involving "major types of construction" soon will be unveiled, a recently located federal-contracting document shows. The "Infrastructure Needs Program," as this U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative is known, will focus primarily on water and transportation infrastructure. However, according to a presolicitation document dated Feb. 11 that The Peacock Report has located, the endeavor also could involve the awarding of contracts for:

- Construction and renovation of schools;
- Construction and renovation of health clinics/hospitals;
- Construction and rehabilitation of municipal and local government infrastructure;
- Construction and rehabilitation of wastewater treatment plants;
- Construction of youth and sports facilities;
- Purchase of construction materials;
- "Other" civil works.

USAID did not provide an estimated value of the project. However, the agency anticipates releasing a more detailed Request for Proposals around Feb. 25.

USAID "Infrastructure Needs Program" Presolicitation Notice.

Federal Education Program Seeks New Leadership

The federal government is recruiting a new "Education/Investing in People Program Leader," a position that pays in the $81,093-$105,420 range. According to a personnel solicitation dated Jan. 15, candidates for this leadership position will be tasked with overseeing initiatives whose "education strategic objective" is the improvement of "the quality and relevance of basic education and of lower level vocational training to enhance job placement opportunities or subsequent level education. The program aims to increase the participation of young people "in social, economic, and political life through the acquisition of life skills gained by both in-school and out-of-school youth."

The program will take place in Morocco, for Moroccan youth, courtesy the U.S. taxpayer.

Condition of New Baghdad Embassy Worse Than Reported

In addition to the spiraling cost of the New Embassy Compound (NEC) in Baghdad, the U.S. State Dept. now is contending with fire safety problems that threaten the well-being of embassy staff, the Washington Post reported today (see Baghdad Embassy is Called a Fire Risk; free registration required). According to a State Dept. source with whom The Peacock Report (TPR) interviewed, the situation is even worse than is being reported: "Some personnel living at the compound are sleeping with military flak jackets on at night," the source said. "They're hyper-aware that the housing is shoddy enough for a mortar to pierce their thin bedroom walls like butter."

It remains unclear whether the reported cost of the compound -- which has risen from an initial estimate of $592 million but now stands at $736 million -- includes hundreds of millions in additional operation and maintenance costs. According to a review of contracting documents available via the FedBizOpps database, TPR learned that State's Iraq Project Coordination Office last April awarded a $177 million contract to the Los Angeles-based PAE Government Services for such services.

As TPR reported (and the Centre for Global Research further disseminated) prior to the contract award, the project also was slated to contain a $1 million annual budget solely for shrubbery and landscaping services.

Iraqi Time in a Bottle

In addition to depleted uranium shells and civil war, the Iraqi people can add one other legacy that the U.S. government ultimately will leave behind: more than a billion plastic bottles. According to a procurement document that The Peacock Report has located, the U.S. Army is coordinating the delivery of 348,000,000 to 492,000,000 liters of bottled water for distribution in 2008 within the Iraqi "theater of operations," where the Multinational Forces-Iraq will consume the products via half- and one-liter plastic containers, the document says.

Links to U.S.-Romanian Military Base Story Restored

To all visitors and researchers whom have accessed the Oct. 11, 2005, story New U.S. Base in Romania To Be Larger Than Previously Estimated, please be advised that The Peacock Report (TPR) as of Aug. 15 has updated the contracting-document link embedded in that story. FedBizOpps, the federal government's primary procurement-opportunities database, generally archives such documents at some point as a matter of routine database maintenance, thereby changing the original links it previously generated for those documents (although, as TPR reported in the unrelated story U.S. Commerce Dept. Hires Consultant for Iraq Energy Project -- Then Covers Tracks of Contracting Action, sometimes the government archives documents immediately, consequently making such information more difficult to locate).

TPR attempts to update document-links as frequently as possible. We therefore apologize to the hundreds of visitors whom have located this web site through Google Romania in search of verifiable data on the growing U.S. presence at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. Stay tuned for further updates on that $100 million Forward Operating Base project of Joint Task Force-Europe (JTF-E).