The combination of tons of cash from advanced military projects and excessive secrecy is a dangerous one ' it fuels corruption and graft in defense industries around the world. This week, Transparency International released its summary of corruption in the defense world, and broke down which countries scored an "F" on the watchdog's rankings for openness. The group has also been going after specific vendors of death and destruction that haven't been upfront about measures to stop corruption.
To come to its conclusions, the watchdog group surveyed companies using several criteria: whether the companies have anti-corruption programs in place, whether the companies require ethics training for employees, whether firms keep an eye on graft by their suppliers and contractors, and whether the firms prohibit -- or at least regulate -- political contributions and influence-buying from employees, among many other questions.
Here are seven of the worst offenders.
Above:General Atomics
General Atomics got its start, per its name, in the nuclear industry. But the company's MQ-1 Predator drone has vaulted it to the forefront of defense firms involved in fighting the war on terror. It's also the most prominent American company to score at the bottom of Transparency International's rankings, as General Atomics did not provide information on its anti-corruption polices to the watchdog. General Atomics has also been adept at greasing its political wheels, having contributed more than $600,000 on trips for key congressional legislators during the Predator's nascent years.
For the watchdog's analysis of the U.S. defense industry as a whole, it comes off looking okay, but not great. (The U.S. gets a "B.") "The [U.S.] has extensive legislation in place to regulate defence procurement," the watchdog notes. Now wait for it: "evidence suggests that defence acquisition decisions are often political in nature." Big surprise.
Photo: Air Force
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