What do you think?
Rate this book
Blank Check: The Pentagon's Black Budget
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles, this is a thorough, astonishing expose of the "Black Budget"--a 36-billion-dollar cache used by the Pentagon to fund its own agenda of top-secret weapons and wars.
273 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1990
5 people are currently reading
547 people want to read
About the author
Tim Weiner
14 books573 followersTim Weiner reported for The New York Times for many years as a foreign correspondent and as a national security correspondent in Washington, DC. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the National Book Award for LEGACY OF ASHES: The History of the CIA. His new book, out in July, is ONE MAN AGAINST THE WORLD: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2014
Weiner has since written histories of the FBI and the CIA; his strengths and weaknesses were all on display in this book (1990): great eye for something that needs to be written about, tenacious research, total inability to put the research into a reasonable format. But 'Blank Check' has a much stronger argument than his more recent books. In short, the 'black budget' came into existence to keep the Manhattan project secure. You can say it didn't need quite as much secrecy as it got, but it's hard to deny that keeping nukes secret was a reasonable goal.
But the unintended consequences weren't so great: a secret budget for defense purposes, which grew particularly quickly under Reagan, is a major cause of today's bloated, morally repugnant arms industry. Weapons developed in secrecy are always more expensive, and often of lower quality, than weapons that are developed in public. The beneficiaries of the expense have been, of course, arms manufacturers. Combine that with the militarist doctrines of recent administrations, which use the black budget to pay for off-the-books wars...
Weiner could have made that argument in about 100 pages, but it takes him 200. Not great.
Also, there's special amusement value in hearing about the way the Reagan and Bush I presidencies dealt with the mujaheddin, *without the benefit of hindsight*.
But the unintended consequences weren't so great: a secret budget for defense purposes, which grew particularly quickly under Reagan, is a major cause of today's bloated, morally repugnant arms industry. Weapons developed in secrecy are always more expensive, and often of lower quality, than weapons that are developed in public. The beneficiaries of the expense have been, of course, arms manufacturers. Combine that with the militarist doctrines of recent administrations, which use the black budget to pay for off-the-books wars...
Weiner could have made that argument in about 100 pages, but it takes him 200. Not great.
Also, there's special amusement value in hearing about the way the Reagan and Bush I presidencies dealt with the mujaheddin, *without the benefit of hindsight*.
September 20, 2007
Blank Check was probably wonderfully needed when it was originally published in the early 1990's. It doesn't age well, but it is worth reading. One can only wonder how much of this has been stood on its head in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent military build-up. It is a fascinating read, though, with a "follow the money" mentality that documents clearly how extremely out of control black budget military spending really is. Ah, procurement scandal heaven.
NC
NC
May 17, 2012
Ever since I read Tim Weiner's brilliant book on the FBI's history, called 'Enemies', which showed clearly how the FBI has been operating outside the law since its inception with the support of various Presidents, all the way from FDR to George.W.Bush, I decided to read the other two investigative books by him - one on the Pentagon and the other on the CIA.
'Blank Check' is his book on the Pentagon and it was written in 1990. Though I read it 22 years later now, it still feels very current because the secrecy and deception that Weiner has talked about does not seem to have gone anywhere. We see the same practices in dealing with the Guantanamo Bay inmates and in the war in Iraq.
This book is about the Black budget of the Pentagon. The term 'black budget' itself was new to me till I read this book. To those who are like me, a black budget is a budget that is secretly collected from the overall income of a country and spend it on expenses related to military research, clandestine operations of the intelligence, assassinations overseas, destabilization of foreign govts and such dubious activities by the US government. The budget is kept secret from Congress and the public for national security reasons. Wikipedia says that the Pentagon's estimated black budget as of 2009 is $50 billion. That is about $138 million everyday!
Weiner traces the history of the Black budget by saying that the US simply did not get itself out of the 'War mentality' after the end of the second world war. Cold War replaced the World War and kept the nation in a 'war mentality'. Though the book covers only up to 1990, we know that the 'war on terror' has replaced the Cold War now and is still continuing.
Weiner says that the Manhattan project in the 1940s to produce the atomic bomb created the culture of the government doing things outside the scrutiny of Congress and the public and laid the foundations of the Black Budget. Money was allocated by the DoD for the Manhattan project from a Black budget. Gradually during the execution of this project, extraordinary secrecy with regard to accountability became acceptable. After the Korean War in the early 1950s, the Pentagon allocated vast sums of money to an outlandish project of winning a Nuclear war in future. It was supposed to be executed with robot soldiers, satellites and computers and the US was to prevail over six months after the destruction of much of civilization. The Pentagon allocated billions for the development of MILSTAR, which is a constellation of communication satellites in geostationary orbit for this project. The development of the Stealth bomber also was part of this nuclear strategy.
The other areas where the black budget played a big role was in covert operations by the CIA and the Pentagon in various civil wars where the communists and the Arabs were involved against US interests. Money flowed to the contras in Nicaragua, to the Iranians and the Saudis in exchange for routing arms to Afghanistan and the contras. Money also was sent to the Chilean Army to destabilize Salvador Allende's elected government in 1973. Then there was the project Yellow Fruit, which was a secret army inside the Army which ferried undercover Army operatives to Honduras, where they trained Honduran troops for bloody hit-and-run operations into Nicaragua. It broke the laws of this country and landed its progenitors in trouble after they squandered $325 million in this venture. As if all this sordid drama was not enough, there was fraud, theft, corruption and kickbacks during all these operations, which I suppose, is inevitable.
The book is well researched and the author raises serious questions about our democracy and the veil of secrecy that our governments have cast over many of its operations against the laws of this land and the Constitution. Many of our revered Presidents like FDR, Eisenhower and Reagan have been responsible for breaking the law time and again and appropriating taxpayer's money for activities which are unaccounted for. Nixon, Carter and Johnson fare no better either. The book also makes the point that the Stealth Bomber finally is a white-elephant, costing almost a billion dollars per plane and still being vulnerable to Russian long-range radars.
The book shocked me deeply as it makes one question the rule of law in this country and the immunity with which the powerful people get away with breaking the laws of the land. In 2008, we saw that it is not just the Pentagon, but Wall Street too has the same immunity. There is the poignant chapter at the end of the book where the author details the case of an ordinary citizen, William Richardson, who took on the US government as a taxpayer challenging the state which functioned outside the limits of the Constitution. Unfortunately, Richardson lost the case. Still, it is important that every concerned citizen must read this book and absorb its lessons in the interests of democracy.
'Blank Check' is his book on the Pentagon and it was written in 1990. Though I read it 22 years later now, it still feels very current because the secrecy and deception that Weiner has talked about does not seem to have gone anywhere. We see the same practices in dealing with the Guantanamo Bay inmates and in the war in Iraq.
This book is about the Black budget of the Pentagon. The term 'black budget' itself was new to me till I read this book. To those who are like me, a black budget is a budget that is secretly collected from the overall income of a country and spend it on expenses related to military research, clandestine operations of the intelligence, assassinations overseas, destabilization of foreign govts and such dubious activities by the US government. The budget is kept secret from Congress and the public for national security reasons. Wikipedia says that the Pentagon's estimated black budget as of 2009 is $50 billion. That is about $138 million everyday!
Weiner traces the history of the Black budget by saying that the US simply did not get itself out of the 'War mentality' after the end of the second world war. Cold War replaced the World War and kept the nation in a 'war mentality'. Though the book covers only up to 1990, we know that the 'war on terror' has replaced the Cold War now and is still continuing.
Weiner says that the Manhattan project in the 1940s to produce the atomic bomb created the culture of the government doing things outside the scrutiny of Congress and the public and laid the foundations of the Black Budget. Money was allocated by the DoD for the Manhattan project from a Black budget. Gradually during the execution of this project, extraordinary secrecy with regard to accountability became acceptable. After the Korean War in the early 1950s, the Pentagon allocated vast sums of money to an outlandish project of winning a Nuclear war in future. It was supposed to be executed with robot soldiers, satellites and computers and the US was to prevail over six months after the destruction of much of civilization. The Pentagon allocated billions for the development of MILSTAR, which is a constellation of communication satellites in geostationary orbit for this project. The development of the Stealth bomber also was part of this nuclear strategy.
The other areas where the black budget played a big role was in covert operations by the CIA and the Pentagon in various civil wars where the communists and the Arabs were involved against US interests. Money flowed to the contras in Nicaragua, to the Iranians and the Saudis in exchange for routing arms to Afghanistan and the contras. Money also was sent to the Chilean Army to destabilize Salvador Allende's elected government in 1973. Then there was the project Yellow Fruit, which was a secret army inside the Army which ferried undercover Army operatives to Honduras, where they trained Honduran troops for bloody hit-and-run operations into Nicaragua. It broke the laws of this country and landed its progenitors in trouble after they squandered $325 million in this venture. As if all this sordid drama was not enough, there was fraud, theft, corruption and kickbacks during all these operations, which I suppose, is inevitable.
The book is well researched and the author raises serious questions about our democracy and the veil of secrecy that our governments have cast over many of its operations against the laws of this land and the Constitution. Many of our revered Presidents like FDR, Eisenhower and Reagan have been responsible for breaking the law time and again and appropriating taxpayer's money for activities which are unaccounted for. Nixon, Carter and Johnson fare no better either. The book also makes the point that the Stealth Bomber finally is a white-elephant, costing almost a billion dollars per plane and still being vulnerable to Russian long-range radars.
The book shocked me deeply as it makes one question the rule of law in this country and the immunity with which the powerful people get away with breaking the laws of the land. In 2008, we saw that it is not just the Pentagon, but Wall Street too has the same immunity. There is the poignant chapter at the end of the book where the author details the case of an ordinary citizen, William Richardson, who took on the US government as a taxpayer challenging the state which functioned outside the limits of the Constitution. Unfortunately, Richardson lost the case. Still, it is important that every concerned citizen must read this book and absorb its lessons in the interests of democracy.
June 26, 2013
When journalist Tim Weiner published his first book “Blank Check: The Pentagon’s Black Budget” in 1990 he was on the cutting edge of revealing how a vast amount of taxpayer money is diverted to unaccounted funds in an era well before 9/11. The book follows the money trail of undocumented American tax dollars destined for secretive black operations. Throughout history kings and dictators have taxed the wealth of common people for hidden purposes however this extended practice clashes with the framework of our Founding Fathers, the U.S. Constitution and basic American democracy. As Weiner mentioned the Constitution declares: “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law”.
A bloated government of unaccountability, waste and fraud has crossed the isles of both Republicans and Democrats. When Congress asks direct budget questions of department spending too often the reply does not reveal answers, but rather blanket statements are issued deflecting inquiries under the cover of confidentiality and military security. Weiner’s publication followed the end of the Reagan era, which he was quite critical of. His supporting facts were very good however they did not change my allegiance to my favorite U.S. president, Ronald Reagan.
Weiner noted more secretive government began with the WWII “Manhattan Project” and escalated with the establishment of the CIA in 1949 trending upward through each administration. Twenty-three years after publication his book remains a good case study for debate of American government and politics.
A bloated government of unaccountability, waste and fraud has crossed the isles of both Republicans and Democrats. When Congress asks direct budget questions of department spending too often the reply does not reveal answers, but rather blanket statements are issued deflecting inquiries under the cover of confidentiality and military security. Weiner’s publication followed the end of the Reagan era, which he was quite critical of. His supporting facts were very good however they did not change my allegiance to my favorite U.S. president, Ronald Reagan.
Weiner noted more secretive government began with the WWII “Manhattan Project” and escalated with the establishment of the CIA in 1949 trending upward through each administration. Twenty-three years after publication his book remains a good case study for debate of American government and politics.
February 3, 2014
Fascinating read! One of the few books I've seen collecting what we know about the Black Budget that hides in the undercurrent of Congressional budgeting. It's a collection of news features by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist cataloguing what we know about this fabled Black Budget and what's been done to shed some light on this subject. A great history lesson and a dire warning for the future, as this issue hasn't gone away. I'd recommend this for anyone interesting in Civil Liberties, the NSA scandals, or government.
August 1, 2019
Black budgets to fund secret weapons, secret soldiers, secret wars, gun running and countless other actions by the Pentagon, CIA, and President with little or no oversight. First published nearly thirty years ago, still quite relevant; recommend every voter read it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews