Thank George Shultz and Felix Rohatyn: U.S. Intelligence Is 70 Percent Privatized.

June 3 2007 (LPAC)--Like the US military, US intelligence is also being taken over by private contractors. The Defense Intelligence Agency disclosed on May 14 that 70 percent of the intelligence community budget is spent on private contracts. While there has always been a heavy dependence on contractors to provide technology, the difference now, is that contractors are also being hired to perform functions that were previously reserved for government employees. These include, analysis of intelligence data, and the writing of reports that are passed up the line to high-ranking government officials, according to a report on Salon.com . This privatization of intelligence is part and parcel of the project to privatize military functions run, jointly, by George Schultz and Felix Rohatyn, and their stooge, Dick Cheney, and exposed by EIR in 2006 (see).

Most of the intelligence budget is classified, and is subject to very little oversight by the Congress. Lack of oversight not only means higher costs, but also opens up the door to corruption, as the case of former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) demonstrates. In late 2005, Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting $2 million in bribes from MZM Inc., a firm which had millions of dollars worth of contracts with the Pentagon. As for the costs, in a report released last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee estimates that a government intelligence officer costs about $126,500 per year, but the government pays $250,000 for the same individual under private contract.