Shark Zero Six, you quite obviously have a bug planted in my living room!!!
Far from sending a hit team to silence you, there'd be many on this side of the Pacific who'd agree with your observations 101%.
For too long now, very, very few get past one star in Canberra unless they have proven themselves to be 100% trustworthy - i.e., guaranteed not to rock the boat. This has led to the sorry - (let's call it for what it is - scandalous) - state we have today, where apart from a nominal pair of Chinooks, our troops in Afghanistan must rely upon foreign rotary wing assets for any support at all. And that's just one example of many.
But everyone gets a nice little earner after retirement as the rep. for one of the multinational arms companies - and let's face it, that's the important thing.