Private Security Contractors in Afghanistan Have Doubled in Just Six Months

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is holding a hearing right now about contractors in Afghanistan before a Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee. (I regret I can’t cover it right now, but you can watch it live here.) Still, the senator’s staff has prepared a memo about the parlous state More…

Pentagon Slashes Contracts Like It Was a Newspaper or Car Company

Weekdays at 5 p.m. is a sacred time of day for defense reporters, and not just because of the promise of imminent alcohol. Come rain, shine or economic collapse, 5 p.m. is when the Pentagon emails out its list of contracts awarded that day, a laundry list of numbing, flat More…

Why People Don’t Trust Congress

Because even if it happened innocently or accidentally or meritoriously, it still doesn’t look good when the nephew of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who chairs the House subcommittee that directs defense spending, shows up with a $4 million no-bid defense contract, as The Washington Post reported today.

[L]ast year,

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