I would like to take the opportunity afforded by James Burnham’s October 15 column, “Choose Your Weapons, Gentlemen,” to issue a challenge to those who, like myself, favor a strong national defense. Mr. Burnham observed that the Pentagon’s “management methods are so fouled up that billions could be lopped off to its operational benefit,” but correctly pointed out that the Right characteristically objects to any budget reduction.
Herewith some observations drawn from my experiences in representing clients with government contract problems. Specific reforms of military (and for that matter civilian) procurement practices must ultimately deal in too much detail to be of interest to the public at large, but there are general problem areas which should engage the public interest. I have set them forth below in the hope that sympathetic critics will be able to suggest practical reforms to strengthen the weapons-pro- curement process before others use its weaknesses to destroy it.
Comments