The Pentagonists: An Insider's View of Waste, Mismanagement, and Fraud in Defense Spending

A former cost analyst at the Pentagon, Fitzgerald charges here that he was fired in 1970 on orders from President Nixon for violating the code of silence regarding military waste. Now after nearly 20 years of harassment and attempts to discredit him, he has come to be regarded as the dean of Washington whistle-blowers. The personal story he recounts is shocking. But more disturbing are the convincing allegations, financial figures and damning quotes he presents in this hard-hitting indictment of the Pentagon's ex officio alliance with defense contractors and certain segments of Congress, a combine he warns is taking over a large part of the public economy as well as a significant range of government decision-making functions. Naming government officials, military officers and civilian contractors, Fitzgerald maintains that the Pentagon has become ``an independent entity entirely outside the laws of the United States,'' and that huge infusions of money during the Reagan years have actually produced fewer useful weapons. The book will be widely reviewed, widely discussed and, one hopes, widely read. Illustrations. (Mar.)