This article and video are being co-
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article → co → ?
For the first time, the Pentagon budget topped $1 trillion, and private contractors now receive more than half of all the tax dollars flowing to the Pentagon.
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contractors → top → Pentagon
Few have profited from this privatization of the U.S. military more than the CEOs of Pentagon contractors.
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Few → profit → contractors
While these companies often advertise their work as supporting the troops, the fact is that many service members live in appalling housing conditions, while military–industrial contractors’ profits soar and their CEOs live in luxury.
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CEOs → advertise → luxury
The lavish lifestyles of these CEOs is laid bare in the new mockumentary “Lords of War,” co-produced by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept, that lampoons an industry held aloft by hundreds of billions of public funds every year.
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that → lay → funds
“Lords of War” connects exorbitant Pentagon spending to the luxury enjoyed by the CEOs of its top contractors.
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Lords → connect → contractors
As the film notes, Lockheed Martin is regularly the largest recipient of Pentagon contracts, raking in $75 billion in revenue in 2025 — more than 72 percent of which came from the U.S. government.
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percent → note → government
As “Lords of War”’s faux real estate aficionado explains, Lockheed’s CEOs have used their $20-million-plus compensation packages to buy luxury real estate from the D.C. suburbs to the shores of Miami.
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CEOs → explain → Miami
Despite its care-free tone, the film highlights very real problems within the military–industrial complex.
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film → highlight → complex
As research by William Hartung and Stephen Semler for Brown University’s Costs of War Project showed, 54 percent of the Pentagon’s annual spending now goes to private contractors — up from 41 percent in the 1990s.
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percent → show → 1990s
The top Pentagon contractors’ revenues and stock prices also skyrocketed as they’ve begun to devour an ever-larger share of the military budget.
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they → skyrocket → budget
They converted their revenue from the military into line items on their own budgets that do nothing to improve U.S. national security: armies of lobbyists that now outnumber all members of Congress by a nearly 2-to-1 margin; billions of dollars in stock buybacks; and, of course, CEO compensation packages on par with those of NFL quarterbacks.
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that → convert → quarterbacks
The contrast of these CEOs’ rock-star lifestyles — “Lords of War” reveals that one chief executive bought Lenny Kravitz’s Miami mansion — with those of the military service members they purport to serve
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they → reveal → members
As the film notes, former Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson received $33.7 million in compensation in 2015, which is more than 150 times as much as the average compensation package for an enlisted service member.
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which → note → member
While Hewson and other Pentagon contractor CEOs have been buying up mansions, the basic pay of service members has been relatively stagnant for the past 20 years when controlling for inflation.
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pay → buy → inflation
Worse, the conditions service members have been living in are deteriorating.
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members → live → ?
A 2024 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that two-thirds of service members think their housing is unaffordable.
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housing → find → members
And service members often face “long commutes, leave families behind in other states, and work 2 jobs to afford housing,” according to the GAO report.
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members → face → report
A July 2026 Senate investigation, meanwhile, revealed dangerous living conditions at military bases in Georgia, including “reports of lead exposure affecting newborn health, severe mold contamination leading to emergency room visits, flooding in living areas, and more.”
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investigation → reveal → areas
Wartime environments have been no better, as evidenced by the deplorable conditions — including food shortages and inoperable plumbing — during the USS Abraham Lincoln’s extended deployment near Iran, which ultimately led multiple sailors to attempt to jump overboard.
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which → evidence → sailors
Unfortunately, it’s your tax dollars that are paying for this gaping chasm between the lives of contractor CEOs and the troops.
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that → ’ → CEOs
“Lords of War” is one of the few films about military–industrial complex that you find hilarious, but its subject is no laughing matter.
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subject → find → complex
The private firms we’re entrusting with U.S. national security are doing more to defend their own share prices than they are to defend the nation.
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they → entrust → nation
If we keep trusting this broken system to keep us safe, then, ultimately, the joke is on us.
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joke → keep → us
Voices
The Ellisons Could Make a Killing in Big Surveillance With the Paramount Merger
With the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger set to proceed, the Ellisons can stoke Americans’ fears — and sell the government its solution.
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Ellisons → make → solution
DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor.
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DoorDash → spend → Mamdani
Now We Know Why.
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We → know → ?
In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mamdani.
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it → have → Mamdani
Targeting Iran
Another U.S. Soldier Is Dead as Iran War Casualties Rise
An additional 66 U.S. personnel were wounded in action this month, pushing the official count of Iran war casualties above 850.
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personnel → target → 850
The Aporia
