Another hit thanks to Barry and his band of merry idiots

Having worked 35+ years in aerospace/military defense I can honestly say many of the weapons programs are not wanted by the military. The warning of the military industrial complex influence on procurement by President Eisenhower was right on. By "not wanted by the military" I mean not wanted by the strategic threat planners. These are the DoD people that plan what if games with all kinds of threats and then see what war fighting assets are needed to meet the threat. Much of what the military has is overkill, ill suited to todays threats and grossly expensive. Politics plays a large part in what gets procured. Both in DoD and in Congress. Ever notice how large military procurements are carefully crafted so that each congressional district has a major defense plant contributing to the end item. There is little correlation to a need, it's all politics. When I worked at Northrup Grumman and there was a vote coming up in Congress that would have altered the B2 procurement there were company wide meetings (all hands on deck type) that threatened each employee with potential job loss. The suggestion, almost requirement, was to contact your congressman. You were allowed to use company time to write your letter, sample letters provided, etc.

Ask your self how many covert agents infiltrated in our enemies organizations could you buy for a major weapon program?

Answer:


Any other analysis of the relationship would be naive.[/quote][/quote]

Don't bother....common sense won't appeal to them.

stockingfull wrote:Naive, my hiney. Bob Gates was President of Texas A&M before he came back to work for Dubya; he could quit for a huge raise any time he wants.

Do his recommendations for defense realignment come over the objection of the President? Of course not. But, if he didn't believe in them, there's nothing to stop him from quitting over it.

And it's "naive" to think otherwise.

Jon, Gates served the government for 26 years in various military, CIA, or NSA capacities. He spent about 10 years in the private sector in academe. He's obviously a dedicated public servant first and foremost. I like the man and would expect him to serve as he does, at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief. A military man knows his place and his duties.