Some Things Never Change!

Did you ever wonder why neither Democrat nor Republican presidential candidates ever entertain ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as ways to reduce the national debt and save American lives (after all, Saddam and bin Laden have assumed room temperature!) ? War is good business and there aren't enough jobs for civilians let alone returning vets!


"All of us have heard this term "preventive war" since the earliest days of Hitler. ... A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today. How could you have one if one of its features would be several cities lying in ruins, several cities where many, many thousands of people would be dead and injured and mangled, the transportation systems destroyed, sanitation implements and systems all gone? That isn't preventive war; that is war. ... I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing."-- Dwight D. Eisenhower(1890-1969), 34th US President, WWII GeneralSource: 11 August 1954 news conference in response to a question from Ray L. Scherer, NBC: 'Mr. President, there seem to be increasing suggestions that we should embark on a preventive war with the Communist world, some of these suggestions by people in high places. I wonder, sir, if you would care to address yourself to that proposition.'http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Dwight.Eisenhower.Quote.2828

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so."-- Albert J. Beveridge(1862-1927) American historian, United States Senator from Indianahttp://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Albert.Beveridge.Quote.2707

Eisenhower's Warning: Beware the Military Industrial Complex
You can find the entire speech here: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htmHere are some key, almost prophetic points that he made:

"Any failure traceable to arrogance or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us a grievous hurt, both at home and abroad."

"Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties."

"...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."

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

"As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage."

"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."