Why would an outgoing President warn us about the Military Industrial Complex?

Question

You know...that warning said that the Military Industrial Complex was pure evil, didn't it?

Didn't that warning suggest that the Military Industrial Complex would be the downfall of clear thinking Pessimists everywhere?

Doesn't that now worry you and make you think fellow Americans? Especially after the past 6 years?.

Answer 1

Dwight Eisenhower was a much more complex political thinker than people gave him credit for. He gets elected under the premise that he'll lead us to swift victory in Korea in 1952, and then he punts and leaves quickly with a draw. While he also understood the communist threats Cuba and Vietnam presented, he laid very low in both of those theaters. For a man who built a reputation and won a Presidency on major military victories, he knew when and how to pick a fight.

That being said, I do not see that his repsonse with the war in iraq right now would have been any different, except he may have tried to capture Baghdad back in 1991 during Gulf War I when the insurgents would have been more likely to have backed us more than they have now.

Answer 2

You are talking about Dwight Eisenhower; the last great Republican President. He knew because he was a general and a hero of WW2. He knew how the military Industrial Complex worked.

Answer 3

Same reason why I do , Because its the right thing to do!

Stored and pent up military power, weapons sitting static in inventory offer little additional profit for the "defense" industry. How, otherwise, would the Haliburton's of the world make profits on destroying, rebuilding, destroying, rebuilding... ad infinitum? A corporation in the military-industrial complex does not maximize profits if its weapons are not put to use. More war means more profit. War is good for the Capitalists. To kill is to make money. To kill more is to make more money. More jails means more money. Taking the oil fields means making more money. What good is it for investors who heavily own stock in corporations that produce depleted uranium (DU) weapons, cluster bombs and cruise missiles if the weapons inventories are not used and replaced with new weapons? What profit is there for corporations who build and maintain prisons if their cells are not full of human cattle and the complex not in need of expansion? Herein lies the sickness.

To be anti-war is not to be anti-US. Quite the contrary, to be the military super-power bully always willing to unleash its fury while ignoring the international conventions to which it is party to is being anti-US. Just who are the millions of aggrieved Middle Eastern and Muslim people going to hate because of this regime's sickness?

I do not believe that the United States will in my lifetime regain the respect that it has lost. I do not believe that it will ever again be seen nor respected as the fair arbiter of disputes between nations. I do not believe that it will be seen as the world's protector of human rights. It is a sad time for this country and the world. Yet, the sickness of the George W. Bush regime is our sickness, a sickness of its people as well. It is as Paul Levy writes in his analysis, "The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis. Bush's Sickness is Our Own". Levy states,

Bush and his supporters perversely interpret any feedback from the real world which reflects back their unconsciousness as itself evidence that proves the rightness of their viewpoint.

Answer 4

He warned us because he wanted us to look out for what he saw coming. Presidents all have to play politics. You have to or you wind up like Kennedy. But the warning is a pretty big deal concidering that as leaving the office he couldn't or wouldn't say too much.

Answer 5

George Washington cautioned against the formation of political parties just before he left office, look where this has gotten us. Americans spend too much time listening to the guy trying to get into office who tries to sweet talk the voters and not enough time listening to the guy with nothing to lose by telling the truth.

Answer 6

President Eisenhower during his farewell address.

Answer 7

Eisenhower gave that warning. Yes, the famous WW2 top general. And he was not only right, it turned out to be far worse than he foresaw.

Answer 8

I humbly suggest you go to wikipedia and look up Kermit Roosevelt and Operation Ajax. You might find it interesting.

Answer 9

Eisenhower said that, which makes it all the more laughable and insipid when Bush voters attempt to dismiss any dissenting point of view with their usual talking points ("liberal" [sometimes preceded by "bleeding heart"], "commie", "anti-American", "pro-terrorist", "tree-hugging hippie", etc...) In my humble opinion he sought to caution us against our own complacency and excesses. (To no avail, I might add.)

Answer 10

Because he predicted where things would go over the next 30 years.... and he wanted us to be aware of the dangers that he foresaw.

We didn't listen, and he was right.