CounterPunch
January 20, 2003

The Pentagon Connection

by Ralph Nader

. . . First, Professor Melman cites the Report Card for America's Infrastructure that was issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers. One and a third trillion dollars are estimated for the repair of twelve categories of public works, including schools, drinking water systems, sewage systems, airports, public transit, bridges and roads.

. . . Adding $618 billion for repair of U.S. housing and railroads brings the capital improvement needs to a $2.0 trillion market, he notes.

. . . The military economy drains the civilian economy and this trend has been accelerating into what Melman called a "huge change" in the American economy. He writes: "This deindustrialization has happened so quickly that America's capacity to produce anything is seriously undermined."

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[Rumsfeld promised change but the next day -- Sept. 11-- the world changed and in the rush to fund the war on terrorism, the war on waste seems to have been forgotten.--Aleen Sirgany, "The War on Waste," cbsnews.com, January 29, 2002]

"The Myth of the War Economy," Guardian, January 22, 2003

[A study by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Pentagon couldn't properly account for more than a trillion dollars in monies spent.--Tom Abate, "Military waste under fire: $1 trillion missing," San Francisco Chronicle, May 18, 2003]

[As much as one trillion US dollars is annually being siphoned by the CIA into the DoD for secret distribution to various military intelligence agencies and the 'deep black' programs they respectively support.--Michael E. Salla, "The Black Budget Report: An Investigation into the CIA's 'Black Budget' and the Second Manhattan Project," American University, November 23, 2003]

Cynthia McKinney Nails Donald Rumsfeld On The Missing Trillions, March 11, 2005

Rachel Morris, "Shock and Audit: The Hidden Defense Budget," Mother Jones, June 22, 2009]

Lauren Lyster, "Want to Cut Government Waste? Find the $8.5 Trillion the Pentagon Can't Account For," Daily Ticker, November 25, 2013

Nick Turse, "America's Black-Ops Blackout: Unraveling the Secrets of the Military's Secret Military," tomdispatch.com, January 7, 2014