From the Pentagon to the private sector (Exposes 'Militarization of US Economy")

Source: Boston Globe

From the Pentagon to the private sector
In large numbers, and with few rules, retiring generals are taking lucrative defense-firm jobs

Published on Sunday, December 26, 2010 by The Boston Globe

by Bryan Bender
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Among the Globe findings:

■ Dozens of retired generals employed by defense firms maintain Pentagon advisory roles, giving them unparalleled levels of influence and access to inside information on Department of Defense procurement plans.

■ The generals are, in many cases, recruited for private sector roles well before they retire, raising questions about their independence and judgment while still in uniform. The Pentagon is aware and even supports this practice.

■ The feeder system from some commands to certain defense firms is so powerful that successive generations of commanders have been hired by the same firms or into the same field. For example, the last seven generals and admirals who worked as Department of Defense gatekeepers for international arms sales are now helping military contractors sell weapons and defense technology overseas.

■ When a general-turned-businessman arrives at the Pentagon, he is often treated with extraordinary deference - as if still in uniform - which can greatly increase his effectiveness as a rainmaker for industry. The military even has name for it - the "bobblehead effect.''

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“It is the militarization of the economy,’’ Clark said in a recent interview.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/12/26/defense_firms_lure_retired_generals/?page=full

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Yea I know ...if there wasn't a volunteer military then they would draft us ...but then there would be rebellion. They can't continue with their wars and dirty war profits without troops. Over a trillion $ this year spent on the pentagon ...Russia spent 50 billion. When is this insanity going to be stopped?

...are absurd when it comes to ethical regulations. As soon as these lame expressions are used to defend access to inside information when a private agency relationship exists with a contractor, you know you are dealing with a corrupt relationship.

The waiting period should be five years to at least create the appearance of an arms length relationship. In the alternative, Flag officers who wish to follow the one year and two year limits should be forced to forfeit their commisions and retirements.

Not ripping up the safety nets we desperately need after the economic crash of Supply Side Economics.

The deficit commission could be entirely focused on undoing war profiteering-- figuring out how to cut military spending by 50% is a tough job. How to divide the sacrifice among the many states in which weapons production is located and turn those industries toward production of life sustaining technologies like more efficient mass transit and green engineering.

How to deprivatize military services. When the military did the cooking, plumbing and electrical jobs in house, we got double duty for our tax dollars. Those assignments served as job training too-- giving our soldiers broadly marketable skills for when they left the service. When we privatized them we got moldy food, soldiers electrocuted in their showers and extra torture by private contractors absolved from prosecution.

Furthermore, the billions expended in Afghanistan, long after the Bush administration allowed Bin Laden to escape to Pakistan, could have been so much more effective at quelling opposition if they were used on civilian projects like building schools, infrastructure and hospitals. Seduction by upgrading infrastructure to support small local businesses is a lot more effective than murdering civilians. But we haven't really tried it because we have invested decades in building up the military industrial complex and privatizing military expenditures under the direction of Dick Cheney since he was Secretary of Defense, then CEO of private contractor Halliburton, then back to government as VP to reap more rewards in the pre-planned war on Iraq.

I had great hopes for at least a Truth & Reconciliation Commission because taking a clearer look at the brutal crimes committed in our name would have prepared our population for a much deeper review of our military operations and policies than we have ever had. In spite of our billions of spending, as much as all other nations combined, our Bush military thought we still needed to commit war crimes like torture to achieve our objectives. Does that sound like our expenditures were effective at all? We really needed to examine that in all its horror-- seeing that billions spent on decades of brutal warfare and hundreds of "national security" and intelligence agencies couldn't stop the country that prosecuted torturers after WWII from committing torture itself-- that could have put us on a new footing.

It is so depressing that our military industrial complex has gotten too strong to choose peaceful seduction over mass murder, even as we need massive international cooperation in greening what we can to stabilize our warming planet.

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

We actually won wars back before we privatized our military.

Why in the world would we want competing contractors providing services to our troops. We need a military that is supported by a cohesive services function. The system we have now is not working.

In the military, the enlisted cook who steals from the kitchen or fails to provide the best quality food possible under the circumstances has to answer to his or her commanding officer. The contractors do not. In fact, it is easier to replace members of the military than to replace a contractor.

retired officers & Generals have always been a boon to the cooperate world to sit on boards, etc...they used to run for President now they don't have to to be the King.

When will Americans get angry enough to do something besides post?

These high-ranking officers benefit from an extremely generous and downright socialistic system of perks--their housing, education, travel, their family's health care FOR LIFE, their guaranteed pensions, right down to their final resting place--everything is paid for by the US taxpayer. And most of these guys, mind you, haven't seen combat in 20 years, since we keep the Brass at a good distance from hot combat zones. Then, upon retirement still in the prime of life (early-mid 50s), they turn and around and shake down that taxpayer money tree for profits for whatever defense contractor they sign up with.

And adding insult to injury--they typically vote Republican, because, you know, socialism is evil.

:mad::mad::mad: