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$500 Billion US Defense Spending = Entire World's Defense Budget

Mon Oct 17, 2005 at 09:15:50 PM EST

If you haven't already, see the ePluribus Media Journal for Jeff Huber's new column In An Arms Race with Ourselves. In it, he identifies the who is who in the Industrial-Military Complex, Bush Style.

What Huber reveals is who controls the roughly $500 billion that we will commit to our armed services in 2006.

More than a decade after the demise of the Soviet Empire, and with no peer military competitor on the horizon, America is in an arms race with itself.
[...]
In 21st-century America, however, we've refined this form of military-industrial "bedfellowing" to a fine art. You can't count the hands of everyone who's knocking down a piece of the defense pie because everyone's hands are in somebody else's pockets. It's a complicated web to untangle, but we can get a sense of it by starting at the top of the arms business food chain.

commentary :: :: :: buzz-it!

The industrial control of our military is documented throughout Huber's article. In one fact-filled paragraph Huber names names and cites connections.

Civilian service secretaries, appointed by the President, responsible for weapons and equipment acquisition, largely come from the executive ranks of the U.S. defense industry. Current Secretary of the Navy and Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England is a prime example. Before entering public life, England was a senior officer with defense giants General Dynamics and Lockheed Corporation. Donald Winter, nominated to replace England as Navy secretary, is a highly placed executive with Northrup Grumman, the world's third largest military contractor.

Huber ends his analysis with the most germane of questions:

So where's the compelling need for America to bleed a half-trillion dollars of national treasure per year on the Department of Defense? If we were sticking it to the Soviet Union in the Reagan era with our extravagant defense spending, to whom are we sticking it now?

ePMedia contributors to Huber's column include DEFuning, Susie Dow, Lilnubber, Stoy, Kiw, JeninRI, Standingup and Sue in KY. Jeff Huber's full column is posted at the ePluribusMedia Journal.

$500 Billion US Defense Spending = Entire World's Defense Budget | 5 comments (5 topical, 0 hidden)

Conflict of interest from a stockholding view? (5.00 / 1) (#1)

I was just wondering if these "captains of industry" have to put their stock holdings into blind trusts when taking these positions with the gov't.

Anyone know?

by kfred on Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 12:05:07 PM EST

Blind Trusts (5.00 / 1) (#2)

No, but it's a darn good question. Come to think of it, I'm not all that sure how blind trusts really buffer the conflict of interest thing. They're still making money.

by Jeff Huber on Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 12:10:53 PM EST

Sidebar from Jeff (5.00 / 2) (#3)

I'm rather passionate on this subject. I firmly believe the influence of the MI complex on America's policy and economy is the top issue facing our country today, but one that manages to stay below the radar horizon. It's my hope to push the matter center stage.

So-called "liberal" pundits know too little about military issues to question them in depth. The "conservative" commentators don't know any more than the liberals, but they're ready, willing, and able to echo whatever pro-MI complex talking points the Pentagon feeds them.

Slowing the gravy caisson to a reasonable pace will be a complex challenge. But we'll never make progress in this regard without exposing the MI complex to the scrutiny of public discourse.

Best,

Jeff Huber

by Jeff Huber on Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 12:38:31 PM EST

Statistics (5.00 / 2) (#4)

Available from the Directorate for Information Operations and Reports:

Procurement Statistics Reports. Top 100/50 total, and by branch. Table: Halliburton doubled dollar value from 3.9 to 8.0 billion between '03 and '04.
Military Personnel Statistics. Includes breakout of totals by type/service/rank through 20 Jun '05. Global assignments.
Competitive Sourcing. Read: outsourcing. Note link to "A-76":

Q: What is OMB Circular A-76?
A: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76 establishes Federal policy for the performance of recurring commercial activities. As a general rule a commercial activity is a service that is commonly performed by vendors in the private sector. [FAQ.]

by rba on Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 12:58:49 PM EST

: Halliburton (5.00 / 2) (#5)

rba,
I didn't go into this aspect for the sake of brevity, but what we actually have is a situation where energy, transportation, and communications are also in on the "big bilk." In fact, all the major industries are so in bed with government, we're starting to look like a form of government I think of as "the other F word." (Think Mussolini.)
Jeff

by Jeff Huber on Wed Oct 19, 2005 at 11:30:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]