Mil Lawyers say NO, wait! IBM Corp. plans to give the U.S. military $45 million worth of Arabic-English translation technology. U.S.A. troops needed Arabic-English translation technology in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007...
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Giambastiani told IBM he appreciated the donation, although according to his spokesman, Lt. Col. Gary Tallman, "the offer is under evaluation right now" and "does not constitute acceptance" by the Department of Defense.
As a veteran I am offended at this PR campaign. It is opportunistic and typical of corporations in the Military Industrial Complex.
First and foremost, this can be written off on the Corporate taxes as a donation.
Secondly, this is the prototype for what will be huge piece of business for IBM in translation equipment business later.
I am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak.
We have bought into the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). If you would like to read how this happens please see:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/03/spyagency200703
Through a combination of public apathy and threats by the MIC we have let the SYSTEM get too large. It is now a SYSTEMIC problem and the SYSTEM is out of control. Government and industry are merging and that is very dangerous.
There is no conspiracy. The SYSTEM has gotten so big that those who make it up and run it day to day in industry and government simply are perpetuating their existance.
The politicians rely on them for details and recommendations because they cannot possibly grasp the nuances of the environment and the BIG SYSTEM.
So, the system has to go bust and then be re-scaled, fixed and re-designed to run efficiently and prudently, just like any other big machine that runs poorly or becomes obsolete or dangerous.
This situation will right itself through trauma. I see a government ENRON on the horizon, with an associated house cleaning.
The next president will come and go along with his appointees and politicos. The event to watch is the collapse of the MIC.
For more details see:
http://www.rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com
My fellow vets and I hope the lawyers will rule that this is a subtle attempt to gain unfair competive advantage and take this outfit to court.
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