Eisenhower's Warning Against the "Military Industrial Complex"
"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."
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
In a major speech delivered 3 days before he left the presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of our military heroes of WW2 as its leading general, warned of the excess misdirection of our national resources to military production. We spent one trillion dollars on military expenditures in 2009:
post-edit.g?blogID=9702868&postID=7586532953885170993
This misdirection has not only continued but expanded over the decades to the point at which military spending has diverted major funds from our most vital public services. A massive lobbying operation protects those who produce this military hardware and the jobs connected with same.
Obama has pointed out and sought to remove from our budget such military toys as a new generation of aircraft designed to fight cold war battles among the many items totally not needed. The role of world cop has now become our greatest international deficit as we antagonize those threatened by our military forces used as our primary tool where negotiations and agreements where possible should have been our strategy.
What do you think? How can we end this excess resort to weapons which is costing us so dearly in monies and respect by the rest of the world?
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
In a major speech delivered 3 days before he left the presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of our military heroes of WW2 as its leading general, warned of the excess misdirection of our national resources to military production. We spent one trillion dollars on military expenditures in 2009:
post-edit.g?blogID=9702868&postID=7586532953885170993
This misdirection has not only continued but expanded over the decades to the point at which military spending has diverted major funds from our most vital public services. A massive lobbying operation protects those who produce this military hardware and the jobs connected with same.
Obama has pointed out and sought to remove from our budget such military toys as a new generation of aircraft designed to fight cold war battles among the many items totally not needed. The role of world cop has now become our greatest international deficit as we antagonize those threatened by our military forces used as our primary tool where negotiations and agreements where possible should have been our strategy.
What do you think? How can we end this excess resort to weapons which is costing us so dearly in monies and respect by the rest of the world?
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
posted by Ed Kent at 9:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home