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Star Wars: The Next Generation
by William D. Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca
Baltimore Sun
Jan. 31, 2001
When President Bush tapped Donald Rumsfeld for defense secretary,
he signaled his intention to assign this well-seasoned Pentagon
veteran the task of selling missile defense to Congress and US allies....
Given the serious technical, cost, and arms-control problems plaguing
the proposed national missile defense system, Rumsfeld faces no
small task....
Clearly, Rumsfeld has his work cut out for him. But he's just the
man for
the job. His close involvement with conservative think tanks and
missile defense contractors allies him with the lobby that has promoted
missile defense for decades.
Despite Rumsfeld's reputation as a moderate Republican, when it
comes to national security issues such as missile defense and nuclear-arms
control, he is an ideologue in moderate's clothing....
Rumsfeld is listed as an "informal adviser and faithful supporter”
of the
Center for Security Policy in its annual report. The Center, founded
and
directed by former Reagan Pentagon official Frank Gaffney, is a
highly
partisan advocacy organization that serves as the de facto center
of the Star Wars lobby. Its 100-member advisory board is a virtual
Star Wars hall of fame, including such luminaries as original Star
Warriors Edward Teller and former Reagan science adviser George
Keyworth.
The board also includes heads of like-minded, right-wing foundations
such as William J. Bennett of Empower America and Henry Cooper of
High Frontier.
Rounding out the board are almost two dozen former and current members
of Congress, retired military and defense officials, and six defense
industry CEOs from Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The Center receives
roughly 20 per cent of its annual revenues from corporate sponsors,
including generous contributions from top missile defense corporations.
Rumsfeld was awarded the Center for Security Policy's Keeper of
the Flame award in 1998 at a gala dinner attended by retired military
officers, conservative political and foundation leaders, and representatives
of missile defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin. Past recipients
of the award include Sen. Kyl, Ronald Reagan, and Newt Gingrich.
Rumsfeld also serves on the board of Empower America (along with
Bennett, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, Jack Kemp, and
Jeanne Kirkpatrick), which ran misleading, pro-Star Wars radio ads
against incumbent Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in the 1998 congressional
elections, just a few months after Rumsfeld's allegedly non-partisan
analysis of the Third World missile threat was released.
The work of Rumsfeld and his associates has been backed up and supported
every step of the way by the arms industry. During the past decade,
the major weapons makers have made generous campaign contributions
to key members of Congress and invested tens of millions of dollars
in their already formidable Washington lobbying operations. Since
1997, the top four missile defense contractors have doled out more
than $4 million in PAC contributions and almost $3 million in soft
money. But this lavish giving pales in comparison with what these
firms spend on lobbying each year: an estimated $18 million....
William D. Hartung and Michelle Ciarrocca
are
the President's Fellow and Senior Research Associate, respectively,
at the World Policy Institute at New School University.
This article appeared in the Baltimore Sun.
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