cybermage's Journal: Lockheed Martin: Please Be Afraid Of Cruise Missiles

If Lockheed Martin gets their way, the U.S. government may shell out as much as $10 Billion dollars to protect the U.S. coastline from Boston to Washington D.C. from cruise missile attacks.

Lockheed Martin is heavily lobbying congress to fund their plans for a cruise-missile defense system for the U.S. coastline. The pentagon had cut the project dramatically in its 2007 budget and requested no funds for the project for 2008; so, Lockheed Martin is turning to Congress, which has already restored 2007 funding, for help in getting their project funded.

Lockheed Martin offers all kind of what-if scenarios in defense of their project (e.g., cruise missiles can fit inside a cargo container), trying to convince people that cruise missiles are everywhere and the "weapon of choice." Reuters, linked above, mostly just parrots Lockheed Martin's talking points and says nothing to counter their scare-mongering.

When did journalism turn into a dictation/press release service, and how do we get it back?

Reprinted with permission from apathy.net