Thousands of Free Trips Taken by Pentagon Staff (health Barons)

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http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/pentagon_travel/articles/entry/1408/


DOD Personnel Took $26 Million in Travel from Industry, Foreign Governments


Two thousand camels scissor-kicked their way along a 12-mile race track, garnering thunderous applause from the Saudi crowd. It was the 2005 Janadriyah Festival, outside Riyadh, and in attendance was Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and his special guests, a couple from northern Virginia. In addition to the festival, the prince treated Richard and Susan Millies to a musical production, banquets, and first-class flights to and from Washington, D.C. The eight-day trip ended up costing more than $24,000, with Miteb picking up the entire bill.

Richard Millies, who ran the program through which foreign governments buy advanced weapons systems, was a guest of a Saudi prince. (Defense Security Cooperation Agency)Why was Prince Miteb so generous to a couple from the Washington suburbs? Mr. Millies worked for the Pentagon as deputy director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which runs the program through which foreign governments purchase advanced weapons systems. And therein lies the problem, military watchdogs say, with close relationships and free travel posing potential conflicts of interest. At the time, Prince Miteb was an assistant deputy commander of the Saudi National Guard, and the kingdom utilized DSCA more than any other country except Israel and Egypt. Indeed, from 2003 through 2006, the Saudis bought $4.4 billion worth of training and equipment through the program, according to the Congressional Research Service. Some of those deals stirred controversy, including a 2008 agreement to buy $123 million worth of smart bombs.

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This privately paid travel has become riddled with conflicts of interest and is in need of stronger oversight and stiffer regulations, say watchdog groups. “This is the kind of behavior that should be barred without a loop hole,” says Winslow Wheeler of the nonprofit Center for Defense Information. Even some of the travelers are cautious of outside sponsorship. “Some foreign sponsors of the travel may hope to acquire influence by sponsoring travel and holding meetings,” warns Judith Yaphe, a Middle East expert at DOD’s Institute for National Strategic Studies who has taken dozens of the trips to Great Britain, Italy, Kuwait, and Qatar.

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Targeting Military Medicine

The fact that the health care industry paid for about 40 percent of all trips may seem surprising, but medical ethics experts say it makes sense. The billions of dollars spent by DOD on health care are a tempting target for drug companies, device manufacturers, and other medical companies.

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The Government Accountability Office found that the Pentagon’s prescription drug spending more than tripled to $6.2 billion from fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2006. The money accounts for some two percent of all drug sales nationally, a market expected to reach $15 billion by 2015. As such, the $1.7 million spent by the pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers on free travel for Pentagon personnel may seem a wise investment to health care companies. The industry doled out more than 1,400 trips to DOD doctors, medical researchers, pharmacists, and other health care employees from 1998 through 2007.

Among the top medical device manufacturers or pharmaceutical company sponsors of trips are:
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do we really need a pentagon. it could be put to better use as an apt. bldg.