A death march to the tune of 1/2 billion dollars and US national security

I've seen my share of death march projects, we all have (there are alot of them after all). What's amazing to me is not that they exist, but rather the sheer quantity and magnitude of them.

I read this article in the Times this morning. It talks about a project to update the technical infrastructure of the FBI. It sounds like several projects I've worked on -- tell tale signs of death marches like managers claiming everything is on schedule when really late, lack of scope, and lack of direction.

Again, this all sounds like run of the mill corporate incompetence, until you realize this isn't some kind of HR benefits enrollment system, but rather a half billion dollar system critical to national security!

I guess this stuff just goes on everywhere!