(Photo credit: Flickr user Adam Glanzman)
Today, Mitt Romney announced a “Military Advisory Council” of retired military officers who support his campaign.Ai??ai???I am deeply honored to have the support of so many of our most accomplished military leaders,ai??? said Romney during the announcement.
While many of those on the Council are clearly decorated veterans, one curious aspect of the list is how many of these military figures left the government only to become highly paid consultants and board members to major weapons makers. Given that Romney wants to increase the military budget by $2 trillion, these military officials who later became part of the defense industry have a monetary incentive to back Romney that has nothing to do with whether they approve of his wider foreign policy philosophy or not.
Here’s a list of some members of the Military Advisory Council who are also profiting from the defense industry:
- Retired General James Conway: Conway is a retired four-star general. Last year, he was named to the Board of Directors of Textron, which manufactures helicopters and other aircraft and products for the military.
- Retired Navy Admiral James B. Busey: Busey served in the Navy until 1989. After leaving the federal government in 1992, he joined the Board of Directors of defense contractor Curtiss-Wright and left in 2008.
- Retired former commander of United States Strategic Command James O. Ellis:Ai??After serving his country, Ellis decided to make a fortune by working for the defense industry. He serves in the leadership of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and also has a board position at Lockheed Martin.
- Retired Air Force General Ronald Fogleman:Ai??Fogleman serves on the boards ofAi??Alliant Techsystems,Ai??AAR Corporation,Ai??Mesa Air Group, Inc., andAi??World Air Holdings.
- Retired General Tommy Franks: Franks, who led the disastrous invasion of Iraq, has his own consultancy calledAi??Franks & Associates LLC that specializes in “disaster recovery.” He also works for a private firm that pitches itself as able to respond to a viral pandemic.
- Retired Air Force CommanderAi??William R. Looney III: Looney actually campaigns on behalf of for-profit colleges that are under fire for abusing military veterans. Those colleges actually are a hugeAi??beneficiaryAi??of dollars from the Veterans Administration, and thus represent an often under-looked form of defense contractor welfare.
- Retired Navy Admiral Henry Mauz: Mauz is on the Advisory Council of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
- Retired Navy Vice Admiral Mike Bucchi: Bucchi was named president of homeland security contractorAi??Ocean Systems Engineering Corporation in 2005.
We only looked at a small sampling of the list Romney’s campaign provided — those officers with the highest ranks — and found numerous conflicts of interest. It appears that Romney assembled a list of former military officials largely composed of those who are now profiting off of the defense industry, and they are excited to see the candidate offer them more money in the form of a $2 trillion spending splurge that the Pentagon hasn’t even asked for.
Now there’s a Who’s Who of Defense Contractors for ya! Always looking for ways to give money to his friends!
as close as this man will get to the White House is in the passenger seat of his wife’s caddy as he waves to Obama starting his 2nd term!
Today’s Wars are mostly created by zealots, like Bush,Cheney & Rumsfeld,
for PROFIT. Halliburton made $BILLIONS. Deaths & maimming is considered
as colateral damage, or, as I refer to it, cannon fodder.
Eisenhower was right when he warned us about the “Military-Industrial Complex”.
I assume he will disband this LIST of supporters in 15 days. If he is elected (God Forbid) the Joint Chiefs of staff who would work for Him would be responsible for the advice to the President. If he is defeated then they would serve NO purpose. DUMB IDEA.
I would say they would have first pick over any oen else on the flhgit. They often will go out of there way to make sure they in fact get on the flhgit and might even drop someone just so they can.Was this answer helpful?
In Orwell’s ‘1984,’ the economy of Oceania is driven by war manufacturing. Bombs are only used once in the endless wars they are engaged in, so demand is always high. They also do nothing to benefit the country where they are produced. I think Romney’s jobs plan is becoming clear.