Tuesday, July 22, 2003

EISENHOWER AND THE “MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX”

The Left are fond of pointing out that it was Republican President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower who popularized the term “Military Industrial Complex”. The Left promptly made this entity one of their chief bogeymen. The members of the complex were the conspirators who REALLY controlled U.S. policy according to the Left. Ike’s farewell speech makes it clear, however, that Ike himself did not see things remotely that way. Ike didn't blame the Military Industrial Complex for the Cold War. He laid the blame on Communism: "a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method." Ike also felt the Military Industrial Complex was necessary and thought that its influence might be "sought or unsought." For 60s leftists, "unsought" power for the Military Industrial Complex was inconceivable.

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