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By Kelsey Knight-King
Every now and then, we get the feeling that as taxpayers, not only are we paying
for war, but we're also funding the get-rich-quick schemes of those in charge
of it. Bill Hartung, in his book How Much Are You Making on the War, Daddy?,
assures us in no uncertain terms that our suspicions are on target, citing case
after case of what he calls "the power of the self-licking ice cream cone."
By this, he means the closed-off and incestuous economic system that has sprung
up between the government and the weapons industry, with government officials
ordering millions of dollars worth of weaponry from the
same contractors who have the government officials on their payrolls.
In the preface, Hartung poses the question that is at the very heart of the book: "Is our democracy -- the people, the press, the Congress -- prepared to deal with the threat implied by [a] dangerous gathering of corporate, military, and governmental power in the same small circle of hands?" He refers to the incredibly lucrative relationships, largely hidden from the public eye, between the defense contractors who manufacture arms for the U.S. military and the politicians who control military spending and military policy. The current administration's motto, Hartung says, should be "leave no defense contractor behind."
In case there was any doubt whether the politicians themselves profit from ordering high-tech weaponry, Hartung offers dozens of examples of this occurring. Vice President Dick Cheney became CEO of Halliburton, an oil services and military construction firm, in 1995. "As of this writing", Hartung says, "Cheney is still on Halliburton's payroll, receiving roughly $150,000 per year in deferred compensation, while holding stock options on over 400,000 shares of the company." Clearly, our Vice President's judgment is in danger of being compromised by the profits to be had in choosing war over peace.
It isn't only cash and commissions that pass between government officials and
the weapons industry. Insider tips, which assure continued access to money in
the future, are also quietly passed from one side to the other. The Carlyle
Group, a powerful defense and investment firm, has as its CEO Frank Carlucci,
who was Donald Rumsfeld's college roommate at Princeton. Circumstantial evidence,
according to Hartung, strongly suggests that Rumsfeld has helped out his old
college crony by alerting him to the status of the Crusader artillery system,
which was, until its cancellation in Spring 2002,
one of Carlyle's most lucrative projects. Getting such information from a top
government official could have allowed Carlyle "to give investors the impression
that it has inside dope on the direction of U.S. government policy that no other
firm can get." In the long run, such cronyism could be even more lucrative
to the weapons contractors than the more immediate commissions they receive
from their well-placed friends in the government.
At a February 5th party that the Friends Committee on National Legislation
held to celebrate the publication of How Much Are You Making on the War, Daddy?,
Bill Hartung was the guest of honor. While there, I had a chance to speak with
him, and he had the following to say. "We're at a turning point on this
issue; I think this administration has so overreached that we might have an
opportunity, finally, to confront the influence the military industry has on
our democracy." He then cited the head of the Agency for Interior Development
working for the weapons contractor Bechtel as an example, and went on to say,
"The abuses have become so blatant that there's a chance for a passionate
minority to become a majority that's asking
for change."
Towards that end, Hartung details possible responses to the underhanded racketeering
of the current administration. The first
step is to improve your political literacy by spending a few minutes a day getting
news from a credible and independent source, be it a web site, a newspaper,
or a list-serv. The next step is letting this new perspective lead you to act
in concert with others by joining grassroots organizations such as MoveOn or
True Majority. What's important, Hartung stresses, is building activism into
our everyday lives by writing letters to the paper, by giving financially to
causes we believe in, and by simply talking to friends and colleagues about
the situation our country faces as the 2004 elections approach. Nothing we can
do is too small to bother with, if it leads to an informed and politically active
public with a sense of clarity about what kind of administration is needed.
"Then," says Hartung, "we'll have a democracy worthy of the name,
and we can put our heads
together about how best to protect our nation, and the world."