16 March 2002

Penalty Was Steep For A Missile Defense Whistle Blower

Telling the truth will have you blacklisted. At least if you work on missle defense systems for TRW. That is the case of Nira Schwartz and the U.S. government vs. TRW and Boeing.

Schwartz, a scientist and computer expert, was hired in 1995 by TRW to test the key component of the missile defense system: the ability of our missiles to discriminate between incoming enemy warheads and harmless decoys. She soon discovered that the technology being used was fatally flawed. Alarmed by her findings, she approached her boss and insisted that TRW reveal the problem to the Pentagon. The company responded by firing her.

Two months later, Schwartz sued TRW under the False Claims Act, asserting that the defense contractor had knowingly defrauded the American people. The lawsuit is now in the discovery stage. In the six years it has taken the case to work its way through a legal maze, ongoing tests, including the $100-million debacle highlighted in the GAO report, have only confirmed Schwartz's findings.

By any yardstick, this is a shocking story, affecting both our national security and the nation's fiscal health. According to a recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, the price tag for a missile defense system would be more than $230 billion. Worse, by sacrificing the Antiballistic Missile Treaty on the altar of a missile defense shield that has been proved not to work, we are ushering in a new era of nuclear proliferation that will make the world a far more dangerous place. "We've wasted a decade and billions of dollars," she said, "in a quest for a missile defense shield based on a technology that will never work."

Her commitment to exposing the truth has come at a high price. A gifted scientist with a PhD in physics and engineering and the holder of 24 U.S. patents, Schwartz has found herself effectively blackballed since filing her suit, unable to land a job in her field despite having sent out more than 300 resumes.

I'm wagering that this scenario has probably been duplicated in numerous instances - but that in 99 out of 100 similar cases, the outspoken critic buckled under pressure or chose to "tow the company line" ...

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