Sure, it means one less crook on Capitol Hill. But Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s resignation from Congress also means that the Air Force loses one of its biggest allies in the legislature.
Cunningham “pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges and tearfully resigned from office, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators,” says the AP.
But before Cunningham got cozy with the likes of shady security analysis firm MZM, Inc. and dodgy digital documenter ADCS Inc., the guy was a hero — the first American fighter ace of the Vietnam War, shooting down five Russian MiGs. He went on to become an instructor at the Navy’s “Top Gun” school, and then to Congress, where he got deeply involved with military matters. Especially matters with wings and big price tags.
When Pentagon chiefs wanted to cut $10 billion or so from the Cold War-inspired, $40 billion F-22 Raptor jet, Cunningham “lectured” Rumsfeld that “no airplane in the world can touch the F-22,’” according to Defense News. “Other U.S. pilots ‘are going to die 95 percent of the time’ if they fight [new] Russian Su-30s and Su-37s [fighter jets].“
Many former Top Gun graduates, like former Marine Gen. Tom Wilkerson, aren’t so sure. Earlier this year, he told me that the days of dogfights were over, basically, and that “maybe you don’t need any fighter pilots at all.” Let’s just say he wasn’t impressed with the Raptor rationale.
But credit Cunningham with being consistent. He cited the same 95% death rate back in 2000, when he was pushing his colleagues to bankroll the AIM-9X advanced air-to-air missile and Boeing’s “look-and-shoot” Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System. “We needed those five years ago,” he told Defense Daily. The Su-30s and Su-37s “have a helmet-mounted site that they can turn their head and lock you up, and that missile will make the corner. Ours won’t.“
A year later — before 9/11, before the Predator drone became so famously successful over Afghanistan — Cunningham was agitating for Congress to pay for the development of the next-generation “Predator B” unmanned spy plane. The Air Force in March announced that it would be buying 144 more of the drones over the next five years, for a $5.7 billion.
THERE’S MORE: Will someone please explain why the Bush administration “hired Duke-briber “MZM, a ‘defense and intelligence firm,’ to buy office furniture for the White House?
‘Duke’ Gone; Air Force Bummed
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Evening Folks,
At one time “The Duke” as he calls himself use to be my Congressman but in the early 90′s the Republican created for him a safe district.
I live in the 49th. Cong. Disct. Rep Cunningham was from the 50th. Dist. which was cut out of the old 49th. For those who want facts.
About the best thing to be said about Rep. Cunningham is that he didn’t sell out cheap. I’m sure the $2.4 Million he is fessing up to is just a fraction of the real amount. The local joke among the Democrats with in his district is that it took Uncle Sugar fifteen years to catch him. Upon his first election the “old Ace’ went from rags to riches and then more riches.
Randy Cunningham,s Military record is exemplary and is a model of personal courage. His record as a Congressman is a blight on the U.S. Congress as an institution and a disgraceful to those in his district who wanted to believe in him.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
His military career might be exemplary, but there is no one and nothing to back up his story about shooting down Toon. All he had was his own personal credibility backing up that story. When a person’s credibility is gone, it’s gone. No amount of money is going to buy it back.
He can get up to 10 years in jail. I hope he gets at least what Darlene Druyun got. In my opinion, as an elected public official, he should get more.
absolute power corrupts absolutely–here is a good man gone astray who let every one around him down, we have to hold our elected officials feet to the fire and keep the honest or in jail which ever, democrat or republican do the job or get out– and this bs about party is just that bs seems that both sides arent doing the job and id like to can the whole lot and start over
He deserves to be ashamed. VERY ashamed.
But I think he’s right about the AIM-9x/JHMCS combination.
You just wrote about COPE India 2005, and you wrote about 2004. What was it about India’s MiG-21 Bisons that made them such big surprises?
A set of upgrades that included new radar and avionics – plus a helmet-mounted sight and 4th generation AA-11 Archer/Python missiles that surpass the AIM-9M and are the equal of the AIM-9X.
Why does that matter so? See this DID article and follow the links for more background:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/06/82m-for-helmet-mounted-fighter-displays/index.php
As someone who was raised by, and grew up surrounded by “America’s Greatest Generation,” I knew plenty of authentic war heroes who were venial, beat their wives, and were ethically challenged. In short, they were no more or less likely to be honest or upright citizens than any other segment of the population.
Whenever someone starts waving their medals or touting their war record as proving fitness for office, or to assert the notion that past heroics give their views greater validity, perhaps it is good to remember that Benedict Arnold was an honest to goodness hero at the Battle of Saratoga.
This guy sucks. He didn’t just sell out the military, he sold them out in a time of war. And he didn’t sell the military alone. I work in aerospace. He sold me out too. He sold out the vast majority of us who are honest, competent, and hard working. Well, he’s not the only one, he’s just the only one to get caught lately. The rest have either sold out via illegal kickbacks, or the legal variety. This industry didn’t always suck. I used to be proud of what I did. Now jerks like this have it so inside out and upside down. The morons and crooks make it to the top and the rest spin their wheels at the bottom making the ludicrous ideas of those imbeciles work as best we can. When did they stop hanging traitors?
Thanks for posting the bit about the White House contract with MZM. This is from the WaPo 6/27/05:
“”"Government procurement records show that MZM, which Wade started in 1993, did not report any revenue from prime contract awards until 2003. Most of its revenue has come from the agreement the Pentagon just cut off. But over the past three years it was also awarded several contracts, worth more than $600,000, by the Executive Office of the President. They include a $140,000 deal for office furniture in 2002 and several for unspecified “intelligence services.”
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.”"”
I wonder if indicted and arrested former head of procurement David Safavian was involved in this contract. The Bush WH may just have another scandal on its hands.