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Originally posted by span
....this myth of the "military industrial complex"(which by the way is who exactly?) reaping in money hand over fist is an outdated rallying cry left over from the 60's and it's high time it was retired....
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well, since you asked...
among others, the industrial military complex is consists of companies like General Dynamics, (who control three of the six major shipyards where Navy ships are built), Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing, (which hold approximately 25% of all defense contracts), TRW, our friends at Haliburton, Bechtel, Northrup et al.
and if you don't think these firms, and the $400 billion dollars in defense spending up for grabs every year, have an enourmous influence on US foreign policy, military development, and weapons programs, then you're not nearly as smart as i thought you were....
go take a look at these companies' campaign contributions...do some homework on how many government and military personnel go straight from the public sector into lucrative jobs for the same companies they used to vet for defense contracts...or wonder how 32 major administration appointees are either former executives with, consultants for, or significant shareholders of the companies listed above.
i have to give Rumsfeld some kudos in this area: he put the brakes on some of these absurdly expensive and dubious weapons programs. but this quote by Eisenhower (the Republican president who coined the phrase) is more truer today than it was 50 years ago:
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"When it comes to military spending, the tradition of the iron triangle - Congress, the Pentagon, and defense industries - joining to push costly weaponry is nothing new. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
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