Subtitled "A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration," the 178-page book details how the Bush Cartel has seamlessly united OUR government with the arms industry. Hartung details the intimate relationship between defense industry lobbyists, the companies themselves, and the Bush administration. The reality is, you can't figure out where one begins and the other ends.
Bush is supposed to be heading the American government, but he's really the front man CEO for the military industrial complex board of directors. Who's the Chairman of the Board? Dick Cheney, of course.
Columnist Paul Krugman has described Bush's melding of political hardball and economic favoritism as "crony capitalism," while Senator John McCain calls it war profiteering. George W. Bush's approach to military spending is a higher-priced version of what went on under the Suharto regime in Indonesia, when corporations connected to the military and the president's inner circle had the inside track on lucrative government contracts. The military budget has increased from $300 billion to more than $400 billion annually since George W. Bush took office. The Iraq invasion and occupation will cost at least another $200 billion over the next three to five years. U.S. policy is now based on what's good for Chevron, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Bechtel, not what's good for the average citizen. Dick Cheney's ties to conglomerate Halliburton are the tip of the iceberg since at least 32 top officials in the Bush administration served as executives or paid consultants to top weapons contractors before joining the administration. In George W. Bush's Washington, it has reached the point where you can't tell the generals from the arms lobbyists without a scorecard. This book provides that scorecard, in a style designed to provoke action for change.
William D. Hartung runs the Arms Trade Resource Center, a project of the World Policy Institute. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Newsnight with Aaron Brown, Hannity and Colmes, the Lou Dobbs Show, the Lehrer Newshour, The O'Reilly Factor, BBC World, and FPIF. He is the author of And Weapons for All.
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