| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 17.01.12 19:09l 47 Lines 2115 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 16469_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 17
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120117/1636Z 16469@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.47
Jan 17, 1961:
Eisenhower warns of the "military-industrial complex"
In his farewell address to the nation, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower warns the American people to keep a careful eye on
what he calls the "military-industrial complex" that has
developed in the post-World War II years.
A fiscal conservative, Eisenhower had been concerned about the
growing size and cost of the American defense establishment since
he became president in 1953. In his last presidential address to
the American people, he expressed those concerns in terms that
frankly shocked some of his listeners.
Eisenhower began by describing the changing nature of the
American defense establishment since World War II. No longer
could the U.S. afford the "emergency improvisation" that
characterized its preparations for war against Germany and Japan.
Instead, the United States was "compelled to create a permanent
armaments industry" and a huge military force. He admitted that
the Cold War made clear the "imperative need for this
development," but he was gravely concerned about "the acquisition
of unwarranted influence...by the military-industrial complex."
In particular, he asked the American people to guard against the
"danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a
scientific-technological elite."
Eisenhower's blunt language stunned some of his supporters. They
believed that the man who led the country to victory in Europe in
World War II and guided the nation through some of the darkest
moments of the Cold War was too negative toward the
military-industrial complex that was the backbone of America's
defense. For most listeners, however, it seemed clear that
Eisenhower was merely stating the obvious. World War II and the
ensuing Cold War resulted in the development of a large and
powerful defense establishment. Necessary though that development
might be, Eisenhower warned, this new military-industrial complex
could weaken or destroy the very institutions and principles it
was designed to protect.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
Outpost Version 2.5.0 c33
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
