Defense Contractors and the Cheney Trap

This week we learned about a story concerning a US defense contractor sharing Military info with China. And lot of people were underwhelmed by the $13 million-dollar penalty the received for the transgression.

This story begs for a closer examination of the U.S. defense industry and its cozy relationship with the Pentagon, and Congress.

The company Honeywell has been fined US$13 million for sharing the specs of U.S. military jets with the People's Republic of China, and other countries.

This was all happening between 2011 and 2015.

This happened under President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.

But the settlement was just reached this week.

Honeywell said it "inadvertently shared" the technology during "normal business discussions." But, they maintain that "no detailed manufacturing or engineering expertise was shared."

The State Department said it would not debar Honeywell because it voluntarily disclosed its alleged violations. But it's also roughly seven million dollars less than the CEO of Honeywell made last year.

To be clear, the $13 million fine isn't pocket change.

The current CEO is a guy named Darius Adamczyk. He's got a classic American dream story - really inspiring stuff.

His family moved here from Poland when he was just 11.
He spoke no English. He went to Michigan State for an engineering degree, then Syracuse for a Masters, and then Harvard to get his MBA.

Those are the credentials you'd expect from the CEO of a company that makes everything from aviation parts, to smoke alarms, to COVID masks.

To be clear, Mr. Adamczyk was not the CEO of Honeywell when the info about American military jets was leaked to China.

But a look at his C/V does raise serious questions about the cozy relationship between the Pentagon, Congress, defense contractors like Honeywell, and massive government consulting firms like Booz Allen Hamilton.

Before Honeywell, Adamczyk worked in Washington, D.C. at Booz Allen Hamilton.
It's defense division bills itself as the "premier digital integrator" for the Pentagon.

"We're accelerating innovation to help defend the nation," they write on their website.

They reportedly bring in about $7 billion of revenue each year. 

Bloomberg news once called Booz Allen Hamilton the "the world's most profitable spy organization."

That made us think about Liz Cheney . . . not her so much, but her name, and also, the members of the Washington Establishment that are rushing to her defense.

These are the same folks that got us into these wars that never seem to end.

And in turn, the defense contracts needed to support them.

The biggest lie these people continue to tell us is this one:

If we the voters of this country give them just one more chance, just one fighting season in Afghanistan? The country won't fall apart when we leave. And if we are just nice to our enemies like China... they'll leave us alone. Then and only then... will they be able to fix all the things they've broken overseas over the last 25 years.

That's what they are really telling us with their support of Liz Cheney.

Meanwhile, they try to distract us from the domestic issues that plague us; Our failing and shuttered schools, our broken borders, the true motives behind their massive and unsustainable spending plans.

This thing with Cheney and Kevin McCarthy and President Trump, it's all just a media trap.

Mainstreet Americans in places like Sandusky, Ohio don't, and really shouldn't, care so much about who the "House GOP Conference Spokesperson" is.

The lone congress person from Wyoming shouldn't really be having a significant impact on your day.

Most folks are not strolling out to the curb in the morning and cracking open their Thursday edition of the Washington Post and reading Liz Cheney's op-ed talking about the Capitol Riot, and Trump as "Turning Point for the GOP."

To most of America, the people outside Washington, Liz Cheney represents her father's Neocon legacy, and the Washington Establishment's desire to try an undo what they've done with their disastrous foreign policy; The one that's been backed by Republicans like Dick Cheney and John McCain and Democrats like Barack Obama. And current office holders like Joe Biden, John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi.

And as long as we are talking about Liz Cheney, we are not talking about the old guard's sins of the past.

The real "turning point" for the GOP was the vote on the Iraq war, when some of them knew in their heart of hearts that the intelligence didn't support it.

The future of the GOP depends on Republicans who can acknowledge that.

John Bachman is the host of John Bachman Now on NewsmaxTV.

Watch John everyday from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm et - Here.