“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address on Jan. 17, 1961

So, what happens when the war profiteers take over? You get this current mess in Iraq and the drumbeats to war with Iran. War is good money. Ask once-struggling Halliburton or Blackwater how good the “war business” is. It almost seems that good common sense has been abandoned by people who embrace the logic that spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars so their friends can make tens of billions is fiscally-sound policy.

It is against this backdrop that an interesting piece of legislation has been introduced. The House passed a bill, by a vote of 375-3, calling for a prohibition of war profiteering. The bill calls for stiff penalties for companies and individuals who knowingly defraud the government. Individuals can face sentences of up to 20 years in prison for fraud and companies can face fines ranging from $1 million to double the gross profits of the contracts, whichever is greater.

Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, took exception to the bill, worrying that “mere overpricing” would be criminalized. However, to that I respond with what the same refrain I constantly hear from the “conservative” side of the aisle, “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.”

I, for one, hope that this legislation become law. War is supposed to be a last resort, not a business decision.

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