'Private Warriors' & retired rich generals

I sacrificed some of my bed time reading last night to watch the PBS Frontline special 'Private Warriors.' Most of the interviews can be tracked down on www.pbs.org

Essentially, what the US Army - the main US focus although contractors of other nationalities are covered also - seems to have done is to cut back on soldiers in uniform in the early Nineties, while passing a vast amount of support activities over to contractors who are led by retired generals and heavily staffed by former military.

In short, we have been fed the illusion of a peace dividend while the totality of the Army establishment, if one includes the defense contracting support, has actually increased. Look at the defense budget if you doubt this.

This is a neat trick which has made a considerable number of retired generals extremely rich.

The downside is that it has promoted careerism, massive corruption and a serious distortion of the way in which the Army fights - at vast expense to the American taxpayer and to the strategic interests of this country.

The American way of war has now been Enronized.

I'm really not sure the Founding Fathers would approve.

Victor.