Haaretz
Posted on 05/27/2019 6:01:07 PM PDT by rintintin
In President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address to the country, he warned the nation about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, and the dangerous political influence that a permanent armaments industry could have on government. This warning came from the same five-star general who led the Allied forces to victory in World War II. If anybody should have been aware of these dangers, it was Eisenhower.
We need a reminder of that warning now, as allies of the military-industrial complex clamor for a continuation of U.S. involvement in Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.
(Excerpt) Read more at bangordailynews.com ...
“In terms of financial cost, the numbers are staggering. Afghanistan alone has cost a trillion dollars. Just think what we might have accomplished at home if that money had been spent on education, job training, medical research, infrastructure improvements, water purification and sanitation. You can add to this list. It’s all important, but taking a backseat to our military funding.”
The wall!
We may actually be a ‘warlike’ nation. Seems like we’re always battling somewhere.
Historically, warfare has been a technology driver, so maybe it’s not all bad. Unless, you know, you get killed.
Mmmmmkay, so how does Trump score in war and proxy war department as opposed to O’Bunghole?
There is not going to be an “Endless War” beyond a couple of weeks as soon as we prosecute ANY war with our full intention to win it
Yes,. I believe our military IS that good
This General forgot more than most know and knew and I’d call Dwight David a genius
Every American citizen should read George Washington’s Farewell Address frequently. Washington, like most of the founding fathers, warned future generations not to enter into foreign alliances and not to get involved in foreign entanglements. If only we headed his advice.
I read it approximately once every six months. Washington was a very wise man. Unfortunately all of our nation’s current leaders together don’t have the intellect or wisdom of Washington.
The military industrial complex is a good thing. We need American companies building our weapons and there needs to be a tight relationship between those companies and the government.
That said company profits should never be a factor in deciding to go to war. That’s why it is important to elect moral men and women of character to positions of power in the U.S. government.
The “bread and circuses” pandering to the mob is at least double the military spending”
That’s still not an argument in blowing trillions on never-ending wars. Afghanistan’s been going since 2001. Still a billion a week.
I’ll second that.
Never was a greater man than George.
That address used to be standard study in America. Than c. 1900, as everything else just about, a turnabout began, ignoring that. Now no one knows about it.
A tight relationship between arms manufacturers and government has some major risks. I, for one, am not all that comfortable having a former Boeing executive as the U.S. Secretary of Defense ... and the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations now serving on Boeing’s board of directors.
Interestingly, that MIL support so denigrated is the ONLY thing actually authorized by the Founders from that list.
We wouldn’t be in so much if do-gooders didn’t ultimately insist we need to “help” this or that 3rd world hellhole, and now conservatives pick up the cry perhaps with different opponents.
Second, we wouldn’t STILL be in various conflicts if we treated them seriously and bombed the hell out of them rather than hand-wringing about “innocent” casualties.
The War on Terror will be endless as long there is a certain “religion” that keeps the terror going.
The Founders authorized national defense - not endless wars in hotspots around the globe
It needs to be a tight BUSINESS relationship not an inbred relationship. :-)
I just cringe when I see knee jerks acting as if the military industrial complex itself is some sort of bad thing when it’s not. It’s just a matter of morals and ethics in government. The founders knew this.
ZAK-LEE!
Haaretz
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