Die Privatisierung von US-Geheimdiensten

Salon.com berichtet über Tendenzen in den USA, Geheimdienstarbeit an externe Unternehmen auszulagern: The corporate takeover of U.S. intelligence. Das wird mittlerweile etwas kritisch gesehen. Allerdings weniger aus demokratietheoretischen Überlegungen. Die Kosten sind einfach höher und die privaten Unternehmen kaufen sich die von Steuergeldern ausgebildeten Geheimdienstler heraus.

The public, of course, is completely excluded from these discussions. „It’s not like a debate when someone loses,“ said Aftergood. „There is no debate. And the more work that migrates to the private sector, the less effective congressional oversight is going to be.“ From that secretive process, he added, „there’s only a short distance to the Duke Cunninghams of the world and the corruption of the process in the interest of private corporations.“ In March 2006, Randy „Duke“ Cunningham, R-Calif., who had resigned from Congress several months earlier, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of accepting more than $2 million in bribes from executives with MZM, a prominent San Diego defense contractor. In return for the bribes, Cunningham used his position on the House appropriations and intelligence committees to win tens of millions of dollars‘ worth of contracts for MZM at the CIA and the Pentagon’s CIFA office, which has been criticized by Congress for spying on American citizens. The MZM case deepened earlier this month when Kyle „Dusty“ Foggo, the former deputy director of the CIA, was indicted for conspiring with former MZM CEO Brent Wilkes to steer contracts toward the company.

Aus demokratietheoretischen Überlegungen könnte dieses Thema ruhig mal etwas mehr Öffentlichkeit gebrauchen.