I helped run a small business in the mid-90s. And, back then, if someone sold me shoddy supplies -- and then had the stones to lie about it -- I would make damn sure never to do business with the bastard again.
The U.S. military works under a different set of criteria, however. Companies found to be crooked one day are given giant contracts the next. Sometimes this is unavoidable -- like when there's only one firm with has the expertise to tackle a particular task. But more often, it seems, the Pentagon goes out of its way to reward business that screw them over.
Take this story from Defense Industry Daily, for example:
In April 2005, L-3 Communications subsidiary Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim, CA was placed under criminal investigation for providing faulty parts to the CSEL [Combat Survivor/Evader Locator] search and rescue GPS/ beacon/ communicators used by US aviators, special forces teams, et. al. - and concealing test failures.
So, naturally, they've just been awarded a contract to support the test
instrumentation hardware for most of America's nuclear missile fleet,
and all of Britain's.
I've been covering military matters for four years, now. And items like this still leave me slack-jawed. Can someone please explain how these deals are allowed to go down?
