Top Air Force brass said to be under FBI probe

[quaoar]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-05-18T232902Z_01_N18376068_RTRUKOC_0_US-ARMS-USA-AIRFORCE.xml&archived=False

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force's highest-ranking officer and his predecessor are the subjects of an FBI investigation into the handling of a $49.9 million dollar contract for the Thunderbirds, an air demonstration squadron, ABC News reported on Thursday.

The network quoted law enforcement officials as saying the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating allegations that Gen. Michael Moseley and Gen. John Jumper helped to steer a Thunderbird contract to a friend, retired Air Force Gen. Hal Hornburg.

The Air Force, responding to the report, said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne had referred a protest involving the contract to the Defense Department's chief internal inspector.

"Unfortunately, because of the ongoing litigation and investigation it is inappropriate to address specifics concerning the issue," an Air Force statement said.

[jayfish]

1. Damn This Country Is Rotten.

Can anyone else smell the stench?

Jay

[tularetom]

2. Why I'm horrified

I just cannot believe that there would be cronyism involved in the awarding of government contracts. Next thing you know you'll be telling me the government is listening in on my phone calls.

[TomInTib]

3. Haven't you heard?

Jason Leopold has a late-breaking bombshell on NSA snooping on personal phone calls.:sarcasm:

I only added the :sarcasm: because this site has become so loopy as of late.

[tularetom]

7. I've been away

I hardly recognized the place when I got back. Ya gotta have faith. I know Rove will be indicted just as I have known for 5+ years that * was going to meltdown in public sometime before the end of his term. It's that faith that keeps me from chuckin it all and moving to more agreeable climes while I can still afford to do so.

[TomInTib]

10. 'and moving to more agreeable climes'

Funny you should mention that.

A bunch of us locals (Marin County, CA) are doing just that.

Dominical, Costa Rica.

[quaoar]

11. You mean the Air Force general

hasn't already been indicted?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

16. or worse, that the Air Force Academy is run by religious bigots, or some

such unfounded rumor.

[TomInTib]

4. This sort of rigging is to be expected, but Moseley?... damn.

What the heck were they thinking?

Arrogant bastards.

[saigon68]

15. They are arrogant bastards raised in a culture of privilege

Leaders in the military at this level have a plateau of privilege that is hard for the average citizen to comprehend unless one has actually seen it or been a part of it.

The sheer arrogance of these fuckers is mind boggling.

If they are convicted (which I doubt will happen)

NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE WILL HAPPEN TO THEM (no loss of benefits, pensions jail etc0

[Demeter]

5. Air Force Corruption I s Only Starting To Be Exposed

It's probably going to get a lot worse. The only one not under investigation is Dubya. His miserable failure of a life is an open book.

[MercutioATC]

6. Is the FBI going after the Coast Guard next?

First the CIA. Now, the Air Force.

I can't remember the last time something like this happened...

[lanlady]

8. defense contracting

these days is but thinly veiled corruption. The brass retire at the age of 50 after their 30 yrs of service, go off to join a company or start one of their own. And voila! Taking inspiration from the song from Evita, And the money came flowing in from every side/The Generals' hands reached out and they reached wide.

[Old and In the Way]

9. Too much money, too little oversight.

A recipe for corruption.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. I agree, my friend, couldn't have said it better.

:scared:

[Peace Patriot]

12. I know absolutely nothing about this case, but I don't presume anyone

investigated or accused by the Bush junta controlled FBI or the Rumsfeld controlled Pentagon to be guilty of anything, and I do hold out the possibility that they are the target of a purge to ruin honest professionals who don't 'sieg heil' to the junta, or people who may know too much and pose a threat of disclosure of Bush junta crimes, and have been set up, or people who may be involved in lesser crimes and resisted blackmail (and thus are getting stung), or just business rivals of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld buds, who want the competition bumped off. I don't trust ANYTHING done by people whose bosses are Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. They "play" us so easily with their newsstream manipulations. Of course we all know there is military-industrial contract corruption. So, when a charge like this comes up, we think, "Right, more corruption," without thinking who's spying on everybody, to what end?, and who's giving the orders. The Bush junta is a tower of corruption, and a snakepit of the most heinous crimes. And we are to trust THEM on who is corrupt? As far as I'm concerned, we don't have a justice system at the federal level any more, and we barely have one at the state levels.

I would advise: Don't believe everything you read, especially if it comes from the Bush junta. They are master disinformationists, liars, cheats, thieves, torturers, mass murderers and destroyers of our democracy.

[TankLV]

25. Damn - you made me THINK! Damn!

It was a lot easier jumping to my foregone opinions.

Damn!

[Cooley Hurd]

13. K&R - They've even tainted the USAF Thunderbirds...

The Culture of Corruption is friggin' everywhere...x(

[lebkuchen]

14. Cheney steered billions to Halliburton when he was Sec. of Defense

turned CEO of Halliburton.

Is there a problem?

[ama]

17. * cleaning house?

I hope he hasn´t said anything bad about ¨Dear leader¨ http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=6545
heres his bio

[phoebe]

18. Is Lt. Gen. Michael Moseley being punished for telling the truth???

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1669640,00.html
June 26, 2005 Sunday Times - UK

snip

THE American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.
Addressing a briefing on lessons learnt from the Iraq war Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley said that in 2002 and early 2003 allied aircraft flew 21,736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 “carefully selected targets” before the war officially started.

The nine months of allied raids “laid the foundations” for the allied victory, Moseley said. They ensured that allied forces did not have to start the war with a protracted bombardment of Iraqi positions.

If those raids exceeded the need to maintain security in the no-fly zones of southern and northern Iraq, they would leave President George W Bush and Tony Blair vulnerable to allegations that they had acted illegally.

Bush admin. looks to be getting nervous..

[phoebe]

19. Michael Wynne was under scrutiny on the Boeing " lease" scandal

and yet, he was still hired by Bushco and he is investigating this??

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-08-17-wynne-nomination-scrutiny_x.htm

Bush nominates official cited in Air Force leasing scandal
By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY

snip

WASHINGTON — President Bush's choice to head the Air Force is a longtime Pentagon official whose nomination will get strong scrutiny because of his role in a scuttled airplane lease deal that resulted in a prison term for a former top Defense Department official.

Nominee Defense Undersecretary Michael Wynne is expected to face scrutiny.
By Bill Clark, Gannett News Service

The nomination of Michael Wynne to be Air Force secretary comes amid a continuing struggle by the Bush administration to win approval from the Senate for its top Pentagon nominees. If confirmed, Wynne would replace James Roche, who quit in January after his nomination to head the Army stalled in the Senate because of a series of Air Force scandals.

snip

The Air Force has jettisoned a $23.5 billion plan to lease jets from the Boeing Co. for use as air refueling tankers. Boeing's former chief financial officer and a former top Air Force official were sentenced to prison on corruption charges related to the deal.

snip

Wynne was a deputy, then head of the Pentagon's acquisition office. A report by the Defense Department's inspector general in May faulted Wynne for not requiring the Air Force to follow proper procedures for the Boeing leases.

The report said Wynne told the White House budget office that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the lease idea "after comprehensive and deliberative review by the Leasing Review Panel" when that panel had not finished its deliberations or made recommendations.

[LiberalHeart]

20. FBI Investigating $50 Million "Thunderbirds" Contract

PENTAGON (AP) -- There's something about this contract that may not fly right. The FBI is looking into a $50 million publicity contract for the Air Force's Thunderbirds aerial stunt team.

Military and law enforcement officials say agents are finding out just how it got awarded to a company that has ties to a recently retired general. In February, the Air Force canceled the contract.

http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=4927806

[Kagemusha]

21. How it got awarded? That can't be a hard question.

What serving USAF people got out of it, that is the question.

[Sabriel]

22. $50 million for some crappy looking puppets?

And cheesy special effects? They should investigate.

[5thGenDemocrat]

26. $50 million to publicize the Thunderbirds?

Hell, they're the Thunderbirds -- one of the elite air display units in the world. You're not trying to sell New Coke or Bazbo Detergent with Miracle Ingredient X-32 here. Maybe going to see the Thunderbirds isn't high on everyone's list but, to paraphrase Jerry Garcia, "people who like air shows are like people who like licorice -- not everyone likes licorice, but people who like licorice REALLY like licorice."
Anyhow, I've seen the Thunderbirds live -- they're awesome. And they sell themselves.
John
It is now 26 days, 21 hours and 59 minutes to FUNDAY.

[lovuian]

23. Why am I not surprised the Airforce is corrupt

and its a Airforce General going into NSA...
:argh: