Let’s wayback to 2008, when an aggressive and ambitious young senator questioned the Pentagon’s decision-making.
“The two leading Democratic presidential contenders criticized the Pentagon for relying on a foreign business for important military equipment. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said Monday that it was hard for him to believe “that having an American company that has been a traditional source of aeronautic excellence would not have done thisjob.” Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said she was “deeply concerned about the Bush administration’s decision to outsource the production of refueling tankers for the American military.” “It is troubling that the Bush administration would award the second-largest Pentagon contract in our nation’s history to a team that includes a European firm that our government is simultaneously suing at the World Trade Organization for allegedly receiving illegal subsidies, Clinton said.”
Today, Obama’s Pentagon has disqualified Hawker Beechcraft from competition to supply a new light attack aircraft, and its CEO still can’t get any answers:
Embraer, the only bidder remaining in the competition, is under investigation, just as Airbus was in 2008. Yet it stands to win over an American company with a proven track record. As Senator Obama might have asked, why?
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