Half of the foreign policy experts backing Clinton's Sanders criticism have ties to military contractors

Clinton foreign policy backers have military ties.

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published 22 January 2016

Five of the 10 former U.S. diplomats who signed Hillary Clinton's letter questioning opponent Bernie Sanders' foreign policy chops have ties to the military contracting establishment, posing a potential conflict of interest. Military contractors have reaped the benefits of increasing violence worldwide and particularly in the Middle East, as increased security threats have boosted defense spending.

A recent report shows that not only has the escalating violence spurred governments to increase defense spending, it's also given defense contractors an opportunity to sell more weapons systems and military equipment. Moreover, The Intercept reports, defense contractors have previously "bragged about pushing candidates toward adopting more militaristic policies."

Of the foreign policy experts who signed Clinton's letter released Tuesday, The Intercept reports that three are employed by Beacon Global Strategies, whose primary clientele is military contractors; one is a senior counselor at the Cohen Group, which "assists aerospace and defense firms on policy, business development, and transactions"; and another is on the board of military contractor BEI Precision Systems & Space and is an advisory board member to the start-up Endgame Systems, which The Intercept reports has been called the "Blackwater of Hacking."