Former Obama officials cash in with tech and war industry, The Military Industrial Complex rolls on

The money tastes good and it is hard to resist. All that cash flowing to the surveillance state and the masters of war is a serious temptation.

(From The Intercept)

WestExec’s story will be a familiar one for those who keep track of how private companies wrangle government contracts: through the help of officials walking through the revolving door between public service and businesses that take in large amounts of government cash.

“The revolving door is a longstanding feature of the military-industrial complex, and it can lead to distorted policy decisions based on the financial interests of former government employees who use their expertise and contacts in government to press policies that may or may not be in the national interest,” said William D. Hartung, an arms control expert with the Center for International Policy. “This phenomenon is now spreading to efforts to get Silicon Valley firms to collaborate with the Pentagon on issues like artificial intelligence and drone image recognition technology.”…

…WestExec, Flournoy said, helps bridge the Pentagon-Silicon Valley divide by answering a series of questions. “How do we use the move towards the cloud to access the cutting-edge software out there in the Valley or wherever, or even AI capabilities?” she said. “How do you help the Department of Defense or others access that in the commerce sector?”

The company provides “comprehensive government relations and other nuanced stakeholder mapping strategies to help them advance their objectives,” according to its website. The client list is confidential and their work is largely done behind closed doors.

One has to figure that at this rate Terminator is what, 10 years down the road?

We kid. We kid.

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