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Info: Our guest is Washington Post columnist Walter Pincus. He discusses his long career at the Post and some of his recent writings on national security and defense issues. Pincus has written critically of some of the spending in the Pentagon’s defense budget. He cites an example of a recent expenditure of $4 million to build a facility in Huntsville Alabama for the Army band. He also writes about a $115 million authorization to upgrade the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad which was occupied by diplomats only three and one half years ago. Pincus states that he is “amazed” at the amount of infrastructure money the United States government spends abroad compared to how little is spent within the country’s own borders. He says this is because expenditures here in the U.S. are examined more closely and are subject to budget cutbacks. Pincus relates his role in the Valerie Plame investigation involving media leaks and the Central Intelligence Agency. He talks about what he learned the two different times he worked for Senator William Fulbright (D-AR), the longest serving chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He describes why he was motivated to obtain a law degree from Georgetown University in 2001. He also discusses his current role as a consultant for senior management at the Washington Post.
