Taking on the Iron Triangle
| Sat Apr. 4, 2009 12:25 PM PDT
Apparently the shit is scheduled to hit the proverbial fan in two days:Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to announce on Monday the restructuring of several dozen major defense programs as part of the Obama administration's bid to shift military spending from preparations for large-scale war against traditional rivals to the counterinsurgency programs that Gates and others consider likely to dominate U.S. conflicts in coming decades.
....Among the programs expected to be heavily cut is the Army's Future Combat Systems, a network of vehicles linked by high-tech communications that has been plagued by technical troubles and delays; with a price tag exceeding $150 billion, it is now one of the most costly military efforts.
Gates also is considering cutting a new $20 billion communications satellite program and reducing the number of aircraft carriers from 11 to 10, and he plans to eliminate elements of the decades-old missile defense effort that are over budget or considered ineffective, according to industry and administration sources.
But congressmen like military toys, and they especially like military toys manufactured in their districts. I guess we're about to find out whether they like them even more than they like winning actual wars.
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Comments
I work in the military
Submitted by anon (not verified) on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 1:37 PM PDT.
I work in the military industrial complex and ... your headline is way too apt.
I have the sense though that part of the problem does go back to outsourcing. Once all the manufacturing and engineering jobs went overseas, the military industrial jobs became even more important to the cities, states, and congresscritters.
Not the question
Submitted by PeakVT on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 2:09 PM PDT.
I guess we're about to find out whether they like them even more than they like winning actual wars.
We already know the answer to that. What we're about to find out is if Obama and his team have the political power to break down the status quo.
Hobson's choice
Submitted by junebug on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 6:20 PM PDT.
The price tags of the programs they plan to cut just to be able to "shift" spending ought to give you some indication of just how expensive counterinsurgency is. But beyond being expensive, it requires years -- even decades -- just to have a chance at being successful. Oh, and it also requires insurgencies, most likely in failed states, for American troops to counter. Which is worse -- a billions dollar industry industry built of military toys, many of which acquire dust, or a billions dollar industry dependent on round-the-clock, global insurgency? Either way, Raytheon/AlliedSignal/Blackwater... err Xe will be lining up with slideshows explaining why we need to be funneling just as much, if not more, money their way. Indispensable commentary here.
Peak VT nailed it
Submitted by Jeff S. on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 7:07 PM PDT.
As a species, Congresscritters are about the most self-interested and self-absorbed form of life on the planet. How long did it take them to gut Obama's proposed scale-back on ag subsidies to millionaire farmers?
Watch, It Will Turn Into a Jobs Argument
Submitted by jrw on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 8:10 PM PDT.
The congress person representing each district with large military contracts will position himself or herself as a defender of jobs. And I bet the public will follow. So, what we will have is the argument that we need to manufacturer unneeded, often non-functioning, exorbitantly expensive weapons we hope never to use, so we can keep people working. It can be pitched as World War II without the war.
War Preparation Addicts
Submitted by ericf on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 8:39 PM PDT.
I once heard Kurt Vonnegut speak, and he coined the phrase "war preparation addicts". He was differentiating from outright warmongers. He was referring to people like the congressmen who can't buy enough weapons. They can always convince themselves we're not safe, that there's something against which we're vulnerable, and every weapons system conceivable is needed, especially if it's cutting edge technology.
http://www.ravensblog.net
There is an old axiom that
Submitted by spiny (not verified) on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 10:59 PM PDT.
There is an old axiom that Generals & politicians always plan for the last war. God forbid, it is quite possible that counterinsurgency & fighting terrorism will be superseded by the next unexpected war, which might be something much worse.
Gates is astute politically (as in he knows what congress & the executive branch wants), but I hope this doesn't lead him to put all his eggs in the fighting insurgents for the next decade basket...
The sad thing is that for all the record profits the defense contractors have enjoyed over the last few years, the industry really isn't in really that great a shape from a labor and R&D prospective. Just like most of the other industries in America, labor has been squeezed and research & development has been neglected. But unfortunately, that is a nuance that is lost in all the noise whenever defense spending is discussed.
10 Aircraft Carriers? OMG!
Submitted by mcdruid (not verified) on Sat Apr. 4, 2009 11:41 PM PDT.
10 Aircraft Carriers? OMG! That only gives us like, what, 9 more than anybody else in the world?
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