OPINION:
Advocates of the $34 billion bailout for the Big Three want the American people to believe that bankruptcy for any of the automakers would jeopardize the nation’s ability to defend itself. In a New York Times op-ed, Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark cited the quick production of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) in Iraq as an example of what a strong automobile industry can achieve in wartime. These arguments exaggerate the importance of Chrysler, Ford and GM in national defense.
The Big Three played no role in producing the MRAPs, and the most innovative technologies are coming from Honda and Toyota, not Detroit, according to Dakota Wood, a retired Marine Corps officer and a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington research group that follows Pentagon spending. Military analysts generally agree that our military does benefit from a strong, viable U.S. automobile industry. But it is a huge stretch to argue that bankruptcy and/or major downsizings at Ford, Chrysler and GM would endanger national security.
“It’s possible the Big Three make some small components,” retired Army Lt. Gen. John Caldwell told The Washington Times. But “I cannot think of anything of significance the Big Three is in in terms of major combat systems,” said Gen. Caldwell, chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association’s combat vehicles division. In recent years, the Big Three have been shifting away from Defense Department business.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, asserts that the defense market isn’t large enough to sustain most auto parts suppliers, making a strong commercial industry essential to their survival. Gen. Caldwell says this argument stretches the facts. “I have not seen any analysis that would support that,” he told us. “The biggest concern is the people - scientists, engineers, etc. - associated with the military today.” Like used-car hustlers, the Big Three are inflating the value of their goods.
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