don’t read this, watch Football instead
Oh look a 4 star general pimp’d himself out. Why am I not surprised…but don’t read the article, it’s from the MSM and they hate america….
The company, Defense Solutions, sought the services of a retired general with national stature, someone who could open doors at the highest levels of government and help it win a huge prize: the right to supply Iraq with thousands of armored vehicles.
Access like this does not come cheap, but it was an opportunity potentially worth billions in sales, and Defense Solutions soon found its man. The company signed Barry R. McCaffrey, a retired four-star Army general and military analyst for NBC News, to a consulting contract starting June 15, 2007.
Four days later the general swung into action. He sent a personal note and 15-page briefing packet to David H. Petraeus, the commanding general in Iraq, strongly recommending Defense Solutions and its offer to supply Iraq with 5,000 armored vehicles from Eastern Europe. “No other proposal is quicker, less costly, or more certain to succeed,” he said.
Thus, within days of hiring General McCaffrey, the Defense Solutions sales pitch was in the hands of the American commander with the greatest influence over Iraq’s expanding military.
“That’s what I pay him for,” Timothy D. Ringgold, chief executive of Defense Solutions, said in an interview.
General McCaffrey did not mention his new contract with Defense Solutions in his letter to General Petraeus. Nor did he disclose it when he went on CNBC that same week and praised the commander Defense Solutions was now counting on for help — “He’s got the heart of a lion” — or when he told Congress the next month that it should immediately supply Iraq with large numbers of armored vehicles and other equipment.
Did I tell you to read TURKMENISCAM? God, it will be a great 170 pages you won’t regret.
I always knew McCaffrey was a fraud when he would appear on FOX News all the time.
that’s a very good barometer
The entire article is up at the NYT and is worth reading in its entirety.
This same reporter did an article back in April re: the Pentagon initiative to get retired officers to spread Pentagon-friendly talking points while said officers were masquerading as “independent” analysts.
The revolving door of retired officers and defense industry officials is not especially new, but what is new is that these retired guys are adding TV analysis to their portfolios as a part of their mutual beneficiary society. And the TV reporters and producers who tap these guys don’t disclose (or bother to find out) who these “analysts” are doing business for. You’d think that after the April revelations, they’d completely rethink their model or at least own up to some malpractice here. But it is business as usual with the same crowd.
Will NBC apologize to their viewers, because they really deserve one? This guy went on TV claiming to be a military expert when all he was a corporate hack.