Paige Craig
Paige Craig is executive vice president of strategic solutions at the Lincoln Group, a D.C.-based business 'intelligence' company.
According to his corporate profile, "Craig's previous work includes long-term consultation with various DOD and Justice Department clients on projects that involved analysis and review of local and foreign activities. He has also worked on projects involving financial analysis of local and foreign financial crimes, competitive intelligence for U.S. venture funds, and other challenging information projects. In this work, and during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, he has built a proven track record of working in high-risk environments under tasking conditions. Mr. Craig has worked in Thailand, Japan, Australia, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Mr. Craig attended West Point and subsequently received a B.S. in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and an MBA from National University." [1]
Craig is mentioned in the following September 27, 2004, Agence France-Presse news article as the "executive vice president" of Iraqex, the former name of the Lincoln Group. No further information had been found about Paige Craig as of June 14, 2005.
- "Iraq businesses upbeat despite security fears," Agence France-Presse, September 27, 2004: "Paige Craig, executive vice president of Iraqex, a US firm involved in a range of activities from manufacturing construction materials to 'providing logistics' for US forces, disagreed with the general view that the security situation was deteriorating. ... 'People think it's getting worse because they only pay attention to foreigners (who are being taken hostage and often executed). But it's definitely more secure now than it was' a year ago, he told AFP."
In a January 1, 2006 article about the Lincoln Group's Pentagon-sponsored propaganda work inside Iraq, the New York Times reported that the company "has been compensating Sunni religious scholars in Iraq in return for assistance with its propaganda works ... [T]he company's ties to religious leaders and dozens of other prominent Iraqis is aimed also at enabling it to exercise influence in Iraqi communities on behalf of clients, including the military."
Asked for a comment, Paige Craig told the New York Times "We do reach out to clerics ... We meet with local government officials and with local businessmen. We need to have relationships that are broad enough and deep enough that we can touch all the various aspects of society."
"We have on staff people who are experts in religious and cultural matters," Mr. Craig said. "We meet with a wide variety of people to get their input. Most of the people we meet with overseas don't want or need compensation, they want a dialogue." [2]
Other SourceWatch Resources
External links
- "Page Craig", Lincoln Group, accessed December 2005. (Go to 'About Us', 'Professionals' and follow the link to Craig's bio note).
- "Iraq businesses upbeat despite security fears," Agence France Presse (The Daily Star (Lebanon)), September 27, 2004.
- David S. Cloud and Jeff Gerth, "Muslim Scholars Were Paid to Aid U.S. Propaganda," New York Times, January 2, 2006.
- Justin Fox, "Secret No More. Inside the Pentagon's Iraqi PR firm," Fortune (Money.CNN.com), January 20, 2006.
- Lynne Duke, "The Word at War. Propaganda? Nah, Here's the Scoop, Say the Guys Who Planted Stories in Iraqi Papers," Washington Post, March 26, 2006.
