Here was the headline that recently caught my eye: Former Top U.S. General Dunford Joining Unicef.
Okay, you knew it was a joke immediately, right? Theres really only one conceivable headline of that sort when youre talking about a figure like four-star general Joseph Dunford, Jr., who commanded the 5th Marine Regiment in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and all U.S. (and NATO) forces in Afghanistan from 2012-2014, then became commandant of the Marine Corps, and, until last October, was the only chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Trump era. Im sure youve already more or less guessed, but heres the actual headline that caught my eye the other day: Former Top U.S. General Dunford Joining Lockheed Martins Board.
How boringly (or do I mean boardingly) everyday can you be? After all, where else but to big defense contractors do top U.S. military commanders go to rake in the spoils of the system theyve promoted and supported all their lives? Here, for instance, is a headline from last year about former Trump-era Secretary of Defense James Mad Dog Mattis, a four-star with a similarly impressive military CV: Jim Mattis Rejoining General Dynamics Board of Directors. Thats right! Unlike Dunford, he wasnt even joining, but rejoining the board of a giant weapons maker, since he had initially signed on in 2013, having just retired from the Marine Corps.
And as the Washington Post has reported, those two generals now are part of a roiling mass of former military and national security figures who sit on such boards or work as lobbyists for the giant defense contractors. As Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson so sagaciously put it when talking about her most recent acquisition, General Dunfords service to the nation at the highest levels of military leadership will bring valuable insight to our board.
The only question here is insight into what exactly in a world in which generals like Dunford have overseen Americas unsuccessful forever wars for years before passing through that famed Washington revolving door into the industrial part of the military-industrial complex with their military ties intact. What a system for victory, if youre talking not about the wars themselves but those triumphant defense giants -- and what a loss if, like retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, historian, and TomDispatch regular William Astore, youre talking about our otherwise self-defeating military. Tom