[mytailorisrich]

It's not uncommon for ex-military to take such jobs as a way to insulate the Pentagon (or your favourite government) even though they in fact still 'work'for them.

This was (still is?) a classic of French influence in Africa, for instance.

Here my interpretation is that the US keep a close watch on the Saudis...

[atlasunshrugged]

That's an interesting interpretation and I hope you're right. I read it and just assumed it was people finally cashing out after public service and going to the highest bidder.

[mytailorisrich]

Oh they do get a great payday, but that does not necessarily mean that they cut informal ties with the Pentagon or do things against the wishes of the Pentagon.

In this case, the US and the Saudis have been 'tight' for 70 years so one can imagine it is all very friendly...

[wahern]

And Michael Flynn?

> do things against the wishes of the Pentagon

I'm betting that the Pentagon prefers their retired senior staff don't whore themselves out to potential adversaries. But unless and until they cross a formal line, what are you gonna do? If the Pentagon comes across as punitive, e.g. by revoking any latent security clearances, there'll be a huge backlash. This form of consulting and liaising with international groups by retired military is nothing new, and there are legions of retired staff leveraging their status one way or another. It's a perk of the job. It's also not new that it can sometimes be rather unseemly, to say the least. What might be new is the amount of money being thrown around.

These relationships are quite valuable because while it may not seem that way in our social media bubbles and among our international cosmopolitan peers, the day-to-day cultures and administrative machinations of various governments and militaries can be extremely opaque simply because of the huge differences in presumptions and expectations. And this is true even among allies with seemingly similar cultures, which is why even a country like the U.S. with veritable armies of intelligence analysts do ridiculous *hit like bug Angela Merkel's cellphone. Retired personnel don't need to divulge secrets to provide extremely valuable and timely insights, especially as between countries like the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

[GartzenDeHaes]

> does not necessarily mean that they cut informal ties with the Pentagon

Just the opposite, it's those ties and connections that the Saudi's are buying.

[pyuser583]

The US Army let soldiers take leave to fight in Afghanistan’s during the 1980s. This is small potatoes compared to that.

[lnwlebjel]

This would be my first assumption - if not the pentagon then the CIA.