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The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It Paperback – March 15, 2011

3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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The Pentagon Labyrinth aims to help both newcomers and seasoned observers learn how to grapple with the problems of national defense. Intended for readers who are frustrated with the superficial nature of the debate on national security, this handbook takes advantage of the insights of ten unique professionals, each with decades of experience in the armed services, the Pentagon bureaucracy, Congress, the intelligence community, military history, journalism and other disciplines. The short but provocative essays will help you to identify the decay moral, mental and physical in America s defenses; understand the various tribes that run bureaucratic life in the Pentagon; appreciate what too many defense journalists are not doing, but should; conduct first rate national security oversight instead of second rate theater; separate careerists from ethical professionals in senior military and civilian ranks; learn to critique strategies, distinguishing the useful from the agenda-driven; recognize the pervasive influence of money in defense decision-making; unravel the budget games the Pentagon and Congress love to play; understand how to sort good weapons from bad and avoid high cost failures, and; reform the failed defense procurement system without changing a single law. The handbook ends with lists of contacts, readings and Web sites carefully selected to facilitate further understanding of the above, and more.
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  1. Print length
    141 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Center for Defense Information
  4. Publication date
    March 15, 2011
  5. ISBN-10
    0615446248
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0615446240
  7. See all details
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Terry Jennrich
    5.0 out of 5 stars Real Pentagon Reform- Weapons that actually work at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer and more of them for our troops to use
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Every voter in the nation needs to read this book and then vote our of congress and the presidency all incumbents who do not adhere to its practical guide to real reform in the Pentagon. There should be no doubt we need a strong military to keep us safe from the bad actors on the world stage.
    But as the various authors of the book clearly state the american citizens are not getting a workable, strong military defense based upon each dollar spent because too many Presidents and too many members of congress from both parties and both houses do NOT care how much money they spend and do not care about whether the weapons system works or is OVER PRICED! They only care if it produces jobs in their congressional district or state or awards a contract to some defense firm in their district or state or they received a political contribution or benefit from supporting the weapon system. Shame on them. WE need to vote these creeps out of office for the benefit of the american taxpayer and our national security interests. READ THIS BOOK if you don't read any other and then vote out of office the bad members of congress and presidents who don't follow the advice of this book.
    Terry Jennrich
    One person found this helpful
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  • Gus
    1.0 out of 5 stars plagiarized cover art
    Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2011
    All I have to say about this book is that that the cover art was blatantly plagiarized from the 1996 second edition of William R. Lyne's "Space Aliens From The Pentagon" later retitled "Pentagon Aliens"

    Space Aliens from the Pentagon: Flying Saucers Are Man-Made Electrical Machines

    This hilarious fact definitely puts a light on the ethics of the authors. Who apparently have no respect for intellectual property rights, or originality for that matter. They are likely the very people Lyne was warning about.

    In light of this fact you really have to ask yourself where else they've stolen their material from. And what is their real goal?
    One person found this helpful
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  • PJH
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent collection of essays about our overextended military and the ...
    Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent collection of essays about our overextended military and the culture of careerism. 10 very informative essays and you are given websites where these articles and more can be found. . "Being in a position of power makes people feel that they can do no wrong". There is little in this book about the "psychotronic" mind control torture that is being done to some Americans, but you see how a few generals, physicists, and psychiatrists, empowered by unlimited access to money, loyal contractors and retirees, could try to create the "ultimate weapon" .; One writer points out that defense contractors cannot function in the private sector and they need constant defense dollars. How is that different from Welfare? This book might be part of their "hive" mind!
    A memorable and quotable collection of 10 essays'
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Big-T
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Wheeler gives a hell of a good treatment of how the Pentagon really works. The insights presented are some of the best I've ever read. The bellowing of political candidates and the pundits on the evening news are for the schnooks.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Monica Gary Sr.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    You can get it for free online but nothing beats a bound copy
    One person found this helpful
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  • Erin Solaro
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Important Defense Books of the Year
    Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2011
    Full disclosure: the man who wrote this is my husband. He's also right.

    ******

    We are a nation endlessly at war. We are a nation that spends over a trillion dollars a year (mostly borrowed) in the name of national security. And we are a nation of military illiterates. It's not just that the last of our draftees are now in their sixties, or that only a small percentage of us serve or are directly affected by our wars. It's that, as a people, we've given up on national security as a citizen issue. Why bother to understand what's really going on? What difference would it make?

    None, perhaps. Still, from time to time there comes along a book that, if taken seriously, might make a difference. The Pentagon Labyrinth: Ten Short Essays to Help You Through It is that kind of book. It's put out by the Center for Defense Information (CDI) of the World Security Institute. Not so long ago, CDI was considered an oddity of the out-to-lunch Left, or perhaps a sinecure for retired officers doing penance for their previous careers and enthusiasms. Today, CDI is putting out some of the best work around. It takes no government money and, needless to say, does not attract a lot of defense-contractor largesse.

    Labyrinth offers itself as a guide for people, younger people especially, who deal with the defense establishment: journalists, think tank denizens, Congressional staffers, etc. The authors are retired officers, plus former staffers, Pentagon types and journalists. Several are personally known to me. I have great respect for them, and for several others whom I know by their previous work. One or two are not my favorite citizens, but that doesn't mean they're not worth heeding. The book is free, available for download at [...]

    Do get it, even if you're not professionally involved. In fact, you can read it with profit even if you don't know the difference between a CENTCOM and an MRE. And there's another reason to read it, which we'll suggest in a moment.

    The book begins with a simple question. How did we get to this point? Eliding all the intellectual junk food we gorge on regarding American "benevolent hegemony" and the rest, it's easy to explain how, defense-wise, we find ourselves trapped between the Scylla of rocks and the Charybdis of hard places. Our addiction to high technology and lunatic contracting/R&D procedures means that each generation of weapons costs vastly more per unit than the previous, and can never be procured in adequate quantities. Meanwhile, the justification for such procurement has segued from Cold War challenge to an endless series of little wars that are proving endlessly expensive. Indeed, what the Pentagon types call "The Long War" has proven far more useful at generating the trillions than the mature conflict with the Soviet Union.

    In this sense, Osama bin Laden's the best friend the military-industrial complex ever had.

    But hyping and/or fantasizing threats behind every bush and/or sand dune alone doesn't keep the racket going. Much of the book is devoted to explaining the games these people play, from constantly changing the vocabulary and acronyms to the kinds of accounting tricks that would send corporate executives to prison, were they to try them in the civilian economy. Winslow Wheeler, a man with long experience on the Hill, itemizes a few. Two retired engineers in the defense world, Tom Christie and Pierre Sprey, legendary for both their brilliance and their honesty, explain what's wrong with weapons procurement and development. Retired Marine Colonel G. I. Wilson offers a devastating critique of careerism in uniform. George Wilson, long-time defense correspondent for the Washington Post and one of the more colorful characters to inhabit that now-so-dreary realm, offers some tips for journalists covering defense. The other essays are equally informative and infuriating.

    Still, the most evocative part of this book may well be, not what it says about defense, but what it says about the people we've become. For there is nothing in this book's critique that cannot be considered descriptive of the nation as a whole. For the defense establishment is in many ways a metaphor for what has happened to America, a nation that has lived for far too long on a set of interlocking delusions about itself and the world: delusions that hold us hostage in economics and politics as well as national security.

    In the end, the Pentagon is not some alien world. It is us, exactly as we've let ourselves become.

    So do get the book. The authors also provide their emails. Start a conversation. Maybe invite some of these guys to address your Rotary or Kiwanis or book club or church group. And don't worry if you feel you might be neglecting the Really Important Stuff. Charlie Sheen, reality TV, Paris Hilton and the rest will still be there when you're done.

    And we'll still be at war.

    From: Philip Gold's blog, "Progressive FormerCons," in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
    [...]
    6 people found this helpful
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