GDG- Military history

[Margaret D. Blough]

Well, the part about the sixties is right, but I'd hardly call the late Dwight D. Eisenhower, West Point Class of 1915, General of the Armies (ret.) and, as President of the United States, Commander and Chief of the armed forces of the United States, an armchair moralist.  The phrase and the warning is from his farewell address as President on January 17, 1961 (Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, p. 1035- 1040 ) and is found in this passage:

>>. . . A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. 
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. 
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. 
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. 
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. 
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. <<
Regards,
Margaret
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: chmbrdicator <jspragg at iw.net> 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> Norman Levitt wrote: 
> 
> > Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> > 
> >> From the "New Republic": 
> > 
> > 
> > ----------------------------------------------- 
> > 
> > Military history bites the dust. 
> > Casualty of War 
> > by David A. Bell 
> > Post date 05.09.07 | Issue date 05.07.07 
> > 
> > ... 
> > 
> > "Of course, promoting such historical knowledge ... simply means 
> > studying and teaching about war in ways that historians find 
> > intellectually persuasive and important." 
> 
> 
> Many thanks to Norm for bringing this to our attention. 
> 
> Hmmmm ... looks like New Republic contributing editor Bell noticed what 
> John J. Miller did last September, when he published a piece about it in 
> National Review Online (thanks again to whoever posted it to GDG): 
> http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTcwOGU3MzhkNmI0Y2FmZjYzNjVlOGZhYWJiZWFjYjM 
> = 
> 
> Many a netizen might dismiss NRO as an opinion-mongering polemic E-rag, 
> but TNR is a little tougher to ignore. 
> 
> We seem to be reaping the fruits of the 1960s, when armchair moralists 
> purported to be oh-so-offended by the military industrial complex. 
> 
> most respectfully 
> 
> Dean Spraggins 
> 
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