[Marxism] Another sign of crisis for US foreign, military policty?

[Fred Feldman]

Top US air force official commits suicide

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Tuesday October 16, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

The second-highest ranking member of the US air force's procurement office,
who oversaw billions of dollars in priority weapons purchases, has committed
suicide, military officials said yesterday.
Charles Riechers, 47, came under scrutiny by the Senate armed services
committee earlier this month for taking a lucrative job at a defence
contractor while awaiting confirmation in his new job as the principle
deputy assistant secretary for acquisition.

The job put Mr Riechers in charge of ordering some of the highest priority
weapons programmes of the air force, including a $40bn aerial refuelling
tanker and a $15bn combat and rescue helicopter.

He was found dead at his home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington on
Sunday, officials told reporters.

The Senate had held up the appointment for two months. In the interim, Mr
Riechers was paid $26,800 for two months' work as a technical advisor for
Commonwealth Research Institute (CRI), a defence contractor.

The job at CRI had been arranged as a favour to the air force, and Mr
Reichers told the Washington Post earlier this month that the only work he
undertook was to attend a company Christmas party. "I really didn't do
anything for CRI," he told the newspaper. "I got a pay cheque from them."

The air force claimed that Mr Riechers had provided technical advice.

His death comes at a time when the Senate has been criticising the
military's procurement programmes for cost over-runs and late deliveries.

More than two dozen of the Pentagon's main acquisition programmes had gone
over budget by at least 50%, the committee said earlier this month. 

Guardian Unlimited C Guardian News and Media Limited 2007