Ike Was Right
Defense News reports:
The uniformed services are trying to lock in the next administration by creating a political cost for holding the line on defense spending. Conservative groups are hoping to ramp up defense spending as a tool to limit options for a Democratic Congress and president to pass new, and potentially costly, social programs, including health care reform. They also like the idea of creating an unrealistically high baseline of expectations for defense spending that will allow them to claim President Obama has cut defense spending. ...
Business and defense lobbyists are joining forces to tie the hands of an incoming Democratic administration by shaming them into supporting increased defense spending, at the cost of other programs, including social and infrastructure projects.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former general, understood the dangers that exists when industry, military, and politics get so intertwined that they stifle the ability to do anything else. It is what he called the "military-industrial complex" and it's as true today as when he uttered these words in 1961 (emphasis added):
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction... This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together...<\blockquote>
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Comments
and that's why I like Ike
Posted by: natedog | November 20, 2008 10:08 AM