Thought you'd seen it all? have a look at this one, they call themselves "the Hearts and Minds Agency" :

Strategic Communication Laboratories is the leading supplier of Information Operations, Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy services to governments and military clients worldwide. And this is where they got their slogan from:

"The military conflicts of the 21st Century will not be fought on the ground, in the sea or in the air. They will be fought in the minds of your enemies and allies. You may have the weapons to win the territory, but do you have the weapons to win the 'hearts and minds?' "
(US Defense Review, 2001)

The company, which describes itself as the first private-sector provider of psychological operations, has been around since 1993. But its previous work was limited to civil operations, and it now wants to expand to military customers.

SCL made its public debut in September 2005 with a glitzy exhibit occupying prime real estate at Defense Systems & Equipment International 2005, or DSEI, the United Kingdom's largest showcase for military technology. The main attraction was a full-scale mock-up of its ops center, running simulations ranging from natural disasters to political coups," Sharon Weinberger writes for Slate

Our friends at Sourcewatch of course already have an entry on this new outfit, building on an article in Slate (Sept. 19, 2005): You Can't Handle the Truth, Psy-ops propaganda goes mainstream:

"If your definition of propaganda is framing communications to do something that's going to save lives, that's fine," says Mark Broughton, SCL's public affairs director. "That's not a word I would use for that."

Then again, it's hard to know exactly what else to call it. (Company literature describes SCL's niche specialties as "psychological warfare," "public diplomacy," and "influence operations.")

 And the company Web page offers some decidedly creepy asides. "The [ops center] can override all national radio and TV broadcasts in time of crisis," it says, alluding to work the company has done in an unspecified Asian country.

 Who buys this stuff? Broughton declined to mention many specific clients, noting that disclosing SCL's involvement—particularly in countries with a free and open media—could make its campaigns less effective. However, he says that post-apartheid South Africa has employed SCL. So has the United Nations, he says.

There also is an article in Telepolis (in German), largely a translation of the Slate stuff: Psy-Ops-Methoden, Strategische Kommunikation mit "geprüften wissenschaftlichen Methoden" (Oct. 6, 2005, by  Florian Rötzer). Interesting is the link to the website of Phil Taylor, Professor of International Communications and the 'scientific link' of the company. 

I've posted the full Slate article on Spinwatch.

Anyone who has more information on the operations of SCL is kindly asked to share this with Spinwatch....