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TechnoratiWasteful Weapons and the Politicians Who Love Them
Remember Curtis LeMay, the Air Force general played to chilling effect by Sterling Hayden in the 1964 movie "Dr. Strangelove"? If you're too young for that reference, you probably don't recall when the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) dominated our military posture toward our Soviet enemy. I bring this up because the midair refueling tanker that the MAD warrior LeMay commissioned suddenly has become a controversy in the presidential campaign.
MAD was based on a triad of air, land and sea forces that would punish a Soviet first strike, ending all semblance of life on the one-sixth of the planet that composed the old Soviet Union. Toward that end, we needed not only thousands of land-based weapons but thousands of other weapons on ships and on airplanes. It was LeMay's insistence that nuclear-armed bombers be in the air 24/7 that gave rise to the midair refueling tankers that were in the news this past week. Controversy arose when the Government Accountability Office questioned an Air Force decision to award the contract for a new generation of those "gas stations in the sky" to one defense contractor instead of its rival.
The news was presented in a Wall Street Journal front-page story focusing on the profit potential rather than the military significance of the tanker. So, too, the account that led the New York Times business section, which detailed the good news in Boeing's revived chances to secure the refueling tanker contract. This deal would initially cost $35 billion, but, as the Times pointed out, "The tanker contract, which could eventually grow to $100 billion to build a fleet of 179 refueling planes, is one of the most lucrative ever awarded by the Pentagon."
Neither newspaper indicated why we needed $100 billion in tankers, other than in a revealing photo in the Times showing one of the airplanes refueling a B-2 bomber, which brings us back to Gen. LeMay and his MAD doctrine. The B-2 was designed to be the modern bomber in the triad confronting the Soviets. Its very expensive stealth cover would be able to penetrate a sophisticated Soviet radar system -- which was never built. That also assumes that the B-2's stealthy cover would stop deteriorating in the rain, as it was wont to do, but the test for this technology never occurred because of the untimely fall of the Soviet menace.
Despite having lost its purpose, production of the B-2 continued for a while as a jobs and profit program supported by key legislators from both parties, as has been the case with the tanker designed to fuel the planes. Woe to the legislator who dares take on any weapons program, and that is why John McCain has become the subject of criticism from the Democrats.
In one of his better performances as a senator, McCain distinguished himself by challenging a swindle that would have rewarded the Boeing company with a contract worth $100 billion for leasing Boeing aircraft that were converted to refueling tankers from a model that was not selling in a depressed market. Thanks to McCain's insistence on a criminal investigation, the chief financial officer of Boeing and the top procurement officer in the Air Force wing of the Pentagon were sent to serve time in federal prison. The contract was canceled, and a new contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman and a European partner.
The Democratic National Committee now has criticized McCain for having opposed the Boeing deal, charging that McCain had "sent American jobs abroad." The DNC's attack on McCain speaks volumes to the bipartisan gut-checking in favor of military waste that has led us to squander trillions of taxpayer dollars since 9/11.
McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers responded to the scurrilous attack from the DNC, saying:
"Let's get this straight: John McCain led the charge to uncover the biggest boondoggle in Pentagon history, saved the taxpayers over $6 billion, helped send corrupt execs and government officials to jail, and the Democrats say he's the bad guy? It's absurd. Apparently to Barack Obama and the Democrats, corruption is OK, so long as it helps them politically. That's not change we can believe in."
Now, of course, McCain has done his bit to waste egregious amounts of taxpayer money by cheerleading for an Iraq war that has already burdened us with trillions in future debt, but that hardly exonerated the Democrats in once again attempting to one-up the Republicans in throwing money at defense contractors.
Robert Scheer is editor of Truthdig.com and a regular columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.
Copyright © 2008 Truthdig, L.L.C.
11 Comments so far
Show AllSay it like it is, Siouxrose! :-) The MIMediaplex needs to be bought to heel. But only the people can do that. How to get them to see they can, now that's the question we need to answer.
It may be nit picking but I believe there are a couple problem with the Air Force award to EADS. One of 'em is that a foreign company that is subsidized by foreign governments cannot, under our law (not that our laws mean anything any more) bid for U.S. military contracts. The other problem is that the request for a proposal (RFP) was for one thing (an apple) and EADS won the contract by bidding on something else (an orange). Had Boeing bid on the same item they would have won. At least that is the charge that Boeing took to court. Yes, they're all a bunch of gd crooks but within that context, there's still a measure of right and wrong and it seems McCain couldn't care less. And he's well protected by the MSM which is why Obama was correct in opting out of the financing deal - no one can match McCain's advantage in practically owning the press.
Hey you in the House!
What did you buy?
You let georgie sell you
Some pie in the sky.
You signed all the checks
That bought all the bombs.
Gave my money away
For nothing but tombs.
(sung to the tune of trillions)
One must read Gen. Smedley Butler's book War Is A Racket to fully understand the lunacy behind the arms manufacturers, distributors, etc.
Watch the documentary Why We Fight to get a better picture of our military-industrial-complex and why America is so sold on the military and war.
Why We Fight
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
Or, google The Report From Iron Mountain. Read section 5, The Functions of War.
Beware the Report From Iron Mountain - some claim it to be a hoax, however, it was never proven either way.
Ever since WW2 the US budget has been way too military. The old saying 'if your only tool is a hammer all your problems tend to look like nails' applies here in spades. All we have is an absurdly expensive bunch of over the top tech toys that are hammers designed to pound nails that don't exist and never will.
We have destroyed much of our manufacturing base, work ethic, infrastructure, environment, Constitution, Bill of Rights, schools, families and the MAGNA CARTA in an effort to make military force fix all our problems. Spying, torture and kidnapping are now government functions that catch no additional criminals, but do lock up a lot of hapless citizens who don't even get a chance to PROVE their innocence. The innocent until proven guilty concept is a distant memory.
St John - Nice thoughts. And you're accomplishing this how exactly? Imagining whirled peas?
ST JOHN: Excellent post! I believe that all those who designed the weapons, hawked them, and devised ways (in leadership roles) to pay for them will have a lot to answer for! That leads us to the equally compelling post by CITIZENBLOG: what kind of nation squanders its promise & wealth on investing in that which will willfully destroy others.
The U.S. IS PAYING for its wonton destruction of others' ways of life in the floods hitting both the upper and lower (mouth of the) Mississippi, not to mention the California fires. Until people come into empathy and realize LIFE IS A SHARED CREATION and whatever is done (by U.S.) to the least of these (3rd world nations) is done unto US. It is LAW, inviolate.
One of my favorite movies, LITTLE MURDERS, has a scene where someone has just been knifed and gets on a subway bleeding (in NYC). No one looks up until another passenger, who's just been violently mugged shares eye contact. The point being, until we feel pain too many of us can avoid/evade/look away from another's pain. The U.S. is CAUSE to so much pain, even in the way our profligate pro-STUFF lifestyles are burning 25% of the fossil fuels which in turn are causing added MISERY to people living along island coasts, or those now in S. America without glacial melt water.
This reminds me of Merlin coming back to King Arthut examining how anger caused him to break Excalibur: "You broke what could not BE broken." Indeed... there is a covenant, "the land and the king are one." What our KING GEORGE through senseless war is doing unto others, IS returning to us. It doesn't matter if it takes science several centuries to catch up, EVERY intuitive person/mystic/poet KNOWS it's all connected!
"The Democratic National Committee now has criticized McCain for having opposed the Boeing deal, charging that McCain had "sent American jobs abroad." The DNC's attack on McCain speaks volumes to the bipartisan gut-checking in favor of military waste that has led us to squander trillions of taxpayer dollars since 9/11."
Yea that's really what we want. Jobs making bombs and weapons to kill babies and destroy the futures for all children and more power in the hands of corporations promoting such activity and wasting our money. That's real security. Go boys go!
Robert Sheer is censoring himself ... again.
Barack Obama also supported GW Bush's war on Iraqis. Obama helped destroy that country, killing a million or more innocent people, mostly children. He says he will increase military spending.
Now that a lot of these guys from the "progressive media" have hopped onto the Democrat bandwagon, they find themselves in sticky situations. They can't criticize, in any serious fashion, the Democrat candidate that they support.
Lucky for me, I'm free to say anything I want: Barack Obama is a killer of little children and he did it in order to advance his career and for money and power. People like this will never get my vote.
It's 2008. Do you know where your progressive pundits are? Answer: In the corral where they can't make serious waves. Perfect!
Robert Sheer is censoring himself ... again.
Barack Obama also supported GW Bush's war on Iraqis. Obama helped destroy that country, killing a million or more innocent people, mostly children.
Now that a lot of these guys from the "progressive media" have decided to support Democrats, they find themselves in sticky situations. They can't criticize, in any serious fashion, the Democrat candidate for whom they are supporting.
Lucky for me, I'm free to say anything I want: Barack Obama is a killer of little children and he did it in order to advance his career and for money and power. People like this will never get my vote.
It's 2008. Do you know where your progressive pundits are? Answer: In the corral where they can't make waves. Perfect!
How many levees could be built/repaired, bridges repaired/reconstructed, healthcare provided for all of us, schools built and fully staffed/supplied, wounded soldiers treated/healed, starving people fed and provided with educational services, and more, for $100 billion? How does mid-air refueling add to the GNP? How many more jobs could be created in the sustainable energy development and building of infrastructure?
When will we all wake up to our brother/sisterhood?
I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john