While
“Mad Dog” Mattis was by no means a “hero,” it is almost a
given that his replacement will be far more pro-war and
pro-intervention than the outgoing secretary of defense.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
4 - Keane as personal war profiteer?
Beyond
his clear support for American military intervention abroad, Keane
has several conflicts of interest with private companies that benefit
from U.S. intervention and war abroad.
For
instance, in addition to his chairing ISW, which is funded by top
military contractors, Keane is a former board member of U.S. weapons
manufacturer General Dynamics and a current senior advisor to Academi
(the mercenary, special-ops outfit formerly known as Blackwater).
Keane is
also a board member of IronNet Cybersecurity, whose CEO is
Keith Alexander, the former director of the National Security Agency
and head of U.S. Cyber Command.
Alexander
founded the company in 2014 along with a team of former leaders of
the Defense Department, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, as well as cyber-experts
from the commercial sector.
According
to its website, IronNet “works collaboratively with government
security operations centers” and Alexander, as its CEO, has
spent most of the year making repeat appearances on cable news
calling for a military cyber build-up to target Russia and China, a
build-up from which IronNet is likely to benefit.
Given
his role as a board member at IronNet, Keane, if picked to be
the new Secretary of Defense, will likely be equally hawkish in
regards to cyber-warfare, which is likely to benefit Keane’s
personal finances.
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