Whos taking care of our national security—our nations defense, military operations, homeland security, and intelligence?
There’s the Department of Defense, the U.S. Armed Forces, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the “intelligence community” of agencies led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But since Sept. 11 national security has been increasingly outsourced. Industry involvement in national security is nothing new. It became such a pervasive and influential part of national security operations in World War II and the onset of the Cold War that President Dwight Eisenhower gave it a name: “military-industrial complex.” But that’s no longer an accurate description of government/industry collaboration in shaping national security. Since Sept. 11 a new government/industry complex has emerged—one that brings together all aspects of national security. Its formation and explosive growth are the product of three interrelated trends: 1) increased outsourcing to private contractors unleashed by the Bush administration, 2) a surge in the intelligence budget, and 3) the creation o
