National Security Inc.

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FOCUS: The Cancer in Occupy

The story begins: "In June, a stone carver from Manassas chiseled another perfect star into a marble wall at CIA headquarters, one of 22 for agency workers killed in the global war initiated by the 2001 terrorist attacks. The intent of the memorial is to publicly honor the courage of those who died in the line of duty, but it also conceals a deeper story about government in the post-9/11 era: Eight of the 22 were not CIA officers at all. They were private contractors."

Intro image: National Security Inc., The Washington Post, 07/20/10. (photo: The Washington Post)

Comments

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 01:46

Scary but not surprising.

+2 # Guest 2010-07-21 06:45

True Philip, not at all surprising. Neo-conservative agendas include privatization, corrupting, therefore weakening organizations and countries, etc. Consider the numbers of contractor known to be in Iraq and Afghanistan, both in "combat" and otherwise, and who is profiting from it.

The U.S. government is out of control, seemingly, but with a very coordinated ulterior motive. U.S. citizens count for nothing any long, any more than the victims of their territorial takeover in the Middle East.

0 # Guest 2010-07-21 07:01

Bill: Thanks for the light. In reality, the number of contractors with a TOP SECRET rating should be zero. Why would anyone whose loyalty is to something other than the United States of America be given access to that which the regular citizen is without. As an aside, the game is gamey. BP p.l.c. is buying the loyalty of scientist in the Gulf Coast to ensure their silence in face of law suits. This IS America. What has gone wrong when a scientist will agree to silence orchestrated by a foreign corporation at the expense of their fellow citizens? This is strange America.

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 08:15

It is clearly in the best interests of these private companies to exaggerate, if not expand, the need for their services, something they are in a position to do. Terrorism & more terrorism, war & more war are just what they need in their efforts to maximize profits & benefit their shareholders. NSA, as only one example, is an oxymoron under this regime.

0 # Guest 2010-07-21 15:57

Think of the faulty intelligence regarding the WMD's that got us to invade Iraq.

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 09:18

But the unemployed can't get unemployment insurance because of the deficit generated by this private largesse? Something is rotten, and not in Denmark!

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 10:36

The saddest fact is that most Americans don't put together these facts and realize that all of the money spent on defense and intelligence doesn't go into some black hole. Of course, if you challenge such expenditures, the GOP lap-dogs of the corporate elite accuse you of being unpatriotic or a left-wing radical nut, without offering any logical rebuttal to your argument. Those defense contractor profits then flow like nectar to their campaign war-chests. This corruption would make the founders puke.

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 15:33

I am sure there is a whole other story inside this one regarding who the owners and investors are, their connections, and the bidding process.

+1 # Dickinseattle 2010-07-21 18:10

We lost control of the CIA before Kennedy and most particularly after Ford installed Bush as Dir. so Team B (Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz) could co-opt the professional analysts with their own propaganda. This Iran-Contra gang may have been involved with the Pan Am 103 shoot down and cover up, with 9/11 being their last false flag set up for the Iraq war

+1 # Guest 2010-07-21 20:08

Out of control is an understatement. Several decades of federal contracting to private firms for intelligence work is difficult to undo. However, the system is imploding and unsustainable. Those of us who suspect a shadow coup d'etat of the U.S. government by the MIC, which started soon after WWII, are validated daily that our country is being driven by self-serving corporations who thrive on public sector largesse. Hope is a diminishing recourse.

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