The Pentagon, sidetracked with the new task of focusing on climate change as an “immediate threat” (see Grumpy Editor, Oct. 20), somehow is coping with rocket engines used by U.S. military --- that are made in Russia, observes Grumpy Editor.
This has escaped the attention of major U.S. media that, before staff cutting, used to employ military (or defense) editors/columnists who kept their eyes open to expose such developments. (The Pentagon also has been involved in reducing U.S. military ranks and the number of active ships and aircraft, while Russia and China are boosting military forces and equipment.)
“Reliance on these Russian engines is offensive and a threat to our national security,” emphasized David A. Deptula in an op-ed piece Friday in The Wall Street Journal.
Deptula, a retired Air Force three-star general and former Air Force chief of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, declared, “The Pentagon is still injecting millions of dollars into the Russian military industrial complex.”
He pointed out that the U.S. Air Force paid $50 million for two new RD-180 rocket engines produced by NPO Energomash, a Russian company with about 5,500 workers.
Deptula mentioned, “For years the U.S. military’s use of Russian rocket engines has enriched a corrupt Russian government at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and helped finance Russia’s advances in missile technology.” He added, “The U.S. military’s dependence on Russia for launches has long been an uncomfortable reality.”
The former Air Force general cited a recent report for the Pentagon that indicated Russian-made engines are slated to be used in 56 percent of U.S. national-security launches in the next six years.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…
Now, about improving security at that easy-to-jump-over White House fence. A higher fence would be the simple way to correct the problem. However, (like all government operations) it can’t happen without a study, then a review of the study, then recommendations and finally, actually getting it done, reminded White House spokesman Josh Earnest…Headline over a story released by The Associated Press read: AP-GfK Poll: Most expect GOP victory in November. A daily in the West, however, adjusted the headline to read: Like it or not, most expect Republicans to win Senate…Quick action: North Korea decided to close its borders to tourists due to concerns over the Ebola virus…Creative agency thinkPARALLAX, Encinitas, Calif., is offering employees $1,500 to travel to exotic destinations and blog about it...Bloomberg Businessweek will debut a Czech-language edition late next month…Long-distance printing: The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, will close its 46-year-old printing plant and shift that operation 130 miles away to a facility in Mobile, Ala., late next year or early 2016. About 100 production jobs will be terminated in New Orleans…Yellow indeed means caution. Chicago suspended a shorter-than-normal yellow traffic light, part of a red light camera program, after the Chicago Tribune questioned the practice that yielded 77,000 tickets (at $100 each), bringing in almost $8 million to the city in six months.
Does she read newspaper business sections? Hillary Clinton told a Boston rally: “Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs.”
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