There's Something About Barry

New York Times investigative reporter David Barstow has a must-read, in-depth piece on retired general Barry R. McCaffrey, and the relationship he has cultivated between his business interests, the media, and the wars we are currently waging: One Man's Military-Industrial Media Complex.

Before I begin lecturing you -- or General McCaffrey -- allow me a caveat first: I worked for General McCaffrey for a couple of years when he was the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.  Although I disagree with the direction he took the office and the nation's drug policy -- the centerpiece of his strategy being the ridiculous and on-going despicable waste of money, the anti-drug media campaign -- he was leaps and bounds better than the zeroes who have been running that office since Bush ascended to power.  And what's more, I gained a lot of good experience in the Drug Czar's office.  I appreciate that, but we're not talking about drug policy and we're not talking about me.

Let me also say up-front that I got where Barstow was coming from on this, but I'm not exactly blown off my feet.  Here's the basic premise: 

1.  General McCaffrey spends the vast majority of his professional life in public service, much of it distinguishing himself in the Army. 

2.  He retires, serves as Drug Czar, gets on several company boards, and begins to peddle their wares, whether it be to Congress or in the media.  Granted, their "wares" are weapons of war, but this is the military industrial complex, gang.  Get used to it.

3.  He goes before several media outlets and talks about what the need to do to win the war(s).  He does this as a legitimate military analyst.  The guy knows war.  The thing is, what nobody knows, is that what he's saying we need to do to win the war(s) would directly benefit the companies he represents.  And him. 

4.  He goes before Congress, and it's the same story.  He tells them -- as an expert in the field of war -- what they need to do to win the war(s) we're fighting.  It would just so happen that the companies he represents would greatly benefit were his advice to become law. 

Okay, here's my reaction:  Big.  Freaking.  Shocker. 

I mean, are you serious?  Are you kidding me with this?  Really?  Really?  Because if this shocks you, you're in a deep kimche, pilgrim.

Don't get me wrong -- this is a very detailed, very good piece, and Mr. Barstow has done his homework well.  But I sometimes find myself wondering who is fooling who when articles like this are written as if no one had ever heard of anyone using their influence for business -- or even personal -- gain in Washington, DC. 

Here's the news, gang.  Washington, DC is a club.  Actually, it's a series of clubs, each more exclusive than the last. 

Don't believe me?  Did you see the bi-partisan standing ovation convicted felon Ted Stevens got as he left the United States Senate, ostensibly in shame?  The guy has been convicted, found guilty by a jury (several times, actually), and the Democratic Majority Leader was practically blubbering.  That's not how public servants act.  That's how club mates act.  And that's the Senate club.

Disgusted? 

Wait 'til you meet the Military Industrial Complex club.   

Sure, this whole affecting war policy to line your pockets is outright wrong.  But while you and I call it a gross deception, call it wildly dishonest, call it lying or cheating or worse, everyone in Washington calls it another day at the office.  What's odd is that Mr. Barstow gets this aspect of it:

Many retired officers hold a perch in the world of military contracting, but General McCaffrey is among a select few who also command platforms in the news media and as government advisers on military matters. These overlapping roles offer them an array of opportunities to advance policy goals as well as business objectives. But with their business ties left undisclosed, it can be difficult for policy makers and the public to fully understand their interests.

On NBC and in other public forums, General McCaffrey has consistently advocated wartime policies and spending priorities that are in line with his corporate interests. But those interests are not described to NBC’s viewers. He is held out as a dispassionate expert, not someone who helps companies win contracts related to the wars he discusses on television.

Right. 

And...?

Look, if a private defense contractor, let's say Defense Solutions ("Sell your products in Iraq!") hired McCaffrey (as they did) to help them obtain lucrative Pentagon contracts, specifically to use their armored vehicles in Iraq, and he went on NBC and CNBC and before Congress and said, "Hey, as a retired four-star general and expert on military affairs, I think America should do these three things in Iraq," and none of those three things involved more armored vehicles, he'd be a pretty crappy advocate for Defense Solutions, now wouldn't he?

I'm sorry if that offends you, but here's a news flash: it happens every day in Washington.  Actually, I take that back: it happens every ten seconds in Washington.  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your government at work.  If you think it works any other way, I kindly invite you to avert your eyes to the horror. 

Hey, I don't like any of this any more than you do.  It is disgusting.  And in fact, don't avert your eyes just yet -- there is a new boss coming to town, and the hope is that at least some of this will, if not disappear, then undergo change for the better.

So, I have two questions for General McCaffrey:

Why are you obfuscating?  And why are you still using Bob Weiner as your media affairs guy?  Jesus. 

Seriously, I thought maybe Bob was a little better than this:

Mr. Weiner, the general’s longtime publicist, said General McCaffrey worked with clients “to get your mission achieved in the media.” General McCaffrey, he said, often speaks out with the twin goals of shaping policy and generating favorable coverage for clients with worthy products or ideas.

“His motive is pure,” Mr. Weiner said. “It is national interest.”

His freaking motive is freaking pure? 

It's "national interest?"  Yes, it may be that the Army needs more armored vehicles in Iraq.  Okay, that's national interest.  But it's also your interest, General.  Just say so.  

Oh, by the way, McCaffrey isn't the only "culprit" in this scenario.  If you think NBC and other media outlets aren't culpable here, you're crazy.  Retired generals lend credence to their coverage.  Why minimize that? 

Also -- and with respect to Mr. Barstow -- I don't wonder if this isn't a little bit of the Times trying to make up for their own inexcusable drumbeat-to-war coverage.  

I'm not sure why General McCaffrey -- a guy wrong on the drug war, a guy who was very kind to me personally, and a guy who served with great distinction and honor in the Army -- feels the need to equivocate or cover himself here, a bit --

“The New York Times noted my strong on-air criticism as an NBC commentator. My op-ed objections to the execution of the war were published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The L.A. Times, USA Today and other media. Hardly the stuff of someone shilling a war for the administration — or privately pushing his business interests with the Pentagon. Thirty-seven years of public service. Four combat tours. Wounded three times. The country knows me as a nonpartisan and objective national security expert with solid integrity.”

Don't tie your honorable service up in this mess, General. 

Weiner screwed you over on this one, sir.  Why not just come clean with Barstow?  Yes, I think there needs to be more armored vehicles to secure the peace in Iraq.  Yes, I represent a company that can provide that.  Yes, I intend to sell my business to the people who make those decisions, and yes, I intend to use media outlets with whom I have access to do it. 

Instead, you only took half a bite. 

Which leads me to the final play of the consummate Washington game: cover your tracks.  Oh, sure, you and the other list of retired military personnel at Defense Solutions -- their bio page reads like roll call at Fort Bragg -- are only in it for national interest.  Hey, if that's going to be your party line, though, at least get all your players on board (note to Bob Weiner: EPIC FAIL): 

General McCaffrey soon arrived for an audition at the Defense Solutions headquarters outside Philadelphia. “Frankly,” Mr. Ringgold [the Defense Solution's CEO] recalled, “I had to get over the sticker shock of what he was going to cost me.”

Now you've got this story out there, General, and nowhere to turn.

What's next?

Don't blame General McCaffrey for trying to earn a living (a lot of living, if Mr. Ringgold is to be believed).  Especially in Washington, DC.  This isn't a lone instance of one guy using the system.  It's one of many, many instances of what amounts to a government-wide epidemic in our nation's capital.  What a shame.