Global Account

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Global Account

Four of our top reporters brings neglected but important stories to the airwaves.

Angus Stickler, Jenny Cuffe, Allan Urry and Grant Ferrett travel from country to country investigating some issues authorities would prefer remained hidden.

Part Four: America's Iron Triangle

Pentagon

  • Global Account

    • Part One
      A visit to the disputed Thai "Red Zone" and victims of an under-reported war.
    • Part Two
      Can Guinea Bissau counter a tide of crack cocaine and corruption?
    • Part Three
      Can the Kurdish region of Iraq maintain its fragile stability?
    • Part Four
      Allan Urry investigates links between the Pentagon, politicians and weapons manufacturers.

In October 2007, a middle-aged man was found dead in the garage of his home in the suburbs of Washington DC.

The dead man was Charles Riechers, the US Air Force official responsible for buying many of America's most sophisticated new aircraft and weapons systems.

Only days before, he'd been criticised for taking employment with a defence contractor while waiting for confirmation of his Air Force post.

The apparent suicide is just the latest in a series of problems and scandals which have bedevilled defence procurement in the United States.

As the US defence budget spirals to more than half a trillion dollars, reporter Allan Urry investigates links between the Pentagon, politicians and weapons manufacturers -the so-called 'Iron Triangle'- unravelling a story of bribery, prostitutes, cronyism and waste.

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