Public Comment

A new report finds many talking heads who have been fanning the flames of war in the news media have close ties to Pentagon contractors. Lee Fang, a reporter of the Nation, describes how television analysts including retired generals Jack Keane and Anthony Zinni and former Department of Homeland Security official, Frances Townsend, make regular appearances on television but fail to disclose the huge fees they collect as paid directors and advisors to some of the largest military contractors in the world.  

Keane, is a special adviser to Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, and a board member to military manufacturer General Dynamics. He also has a financial interest in SCP Partners, an investment firm that works with defense contractors. General Jack Keane makes regular appearances on Fox News supporting military strikes against ISIS. Commentator Frances Townsend, who appears on CNN on almost a daily basis, has also been advocating a stronger response to ISIS. Not disclosed is her ties to defense contractor MacAndrews & Forbes, which owns several defense contractors. 

Former head of CENTCOM, retired four-star general, Anthony Zinni, a board member to BAE Systems, one of the largest defense contractors in the world, has been advocating for a large deployment of U.S. troops to the region. It is a pity that the networks misled their viewers by not disclosing the blatant conflict of interest of their ‘think tank’ experts.