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The Water Cooler
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Dwight D. Eisenhower on the consequences of war
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<blockquote data-quote="RidgeHunter" data-source="post: 1726408" data-attributes="member: 4319"><p>Of course Ike wasn't a lefty, nor was he an isolationist or anti-military - and he did think intervention was necessary in some instances and on certain levels. He simply viewed things in a more pragmatic manner, and cautioned us repeatedly for his entire political career to not let fear infringe on our liberties and economic prosperity. He railed against politicians drumming up war scares, and cautioned us to be wary of the influence a large defense industry and standing army can have on the political process. The Cross of Iron speech lays it all out very clear, and bear in mind the time period in which in which Ike made the speech and how things were in the Soviet Union at the time. He caution us not to take the road the Soviets took, which was an attempt to attain to security by:</p><p></p><p><em><strong>"...not in mutual trust and mutual aid but in force: huge armies, subversion, rule of neighbor nations. The goal was power superiority at all costs. Security was to be sought by denying it to all others."</strong></em></p><p></p><p>And nobody listened. For Ike to have the balls to make that speech in 1953, in which he basically told people to quit taking ideas from the Soviet playbook, was impressive. It was spot-on then, and it's spot on now. But Mencken said it best: <em>"The truth, indeed, is something that mankind, for some mysterious reason, instinctively dislikes. Every man who tries to tell it is unpopular, and even when, by the sheer strength of his case, he prevails, he is put down as a scoundrel."</em></p><p></p><p>Your bolded line of Ike's farewell address isn't telling me anything I didn't already know - or disagree with. Read the context of the paragraph around that line, and you'll see Ike's concerns, which I think were more like predictions that came true in ways he could not have imagined. </p><p></p><p>And your numbers, like I say, military spending as a percentage of GDP or the federal budget is grossly misleading.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RidgeHunter, post: 1726408, member: 4319"] Of course Ike wasn't a lefty, nor was he an isolationist or anti-military - and he did think intervention was necessary in some instances and on certain levels. He simply viewed things in a more pragmatic manner, and cautioned us repeatedly for his entire political career to not let fear infringe on our liberties and economic prosperity. He railed against politicians drumming up war scares, and cautioned us to be wary of the influence a large defense industry and standing army can have on the political process. The Cross of Iron speech lays it all out very clear, and bear in mind the time period in which in which Ike made the speech and how things were in the Soviet Union at the time. He caution us not to take the road the Soviets took, which was an attempt to attain to security by: [I][B]"...not in mutual trust and mutual aid but in force: huge armies, subversion, rule of neighbor nations. The goal was power superiority at all costs. Security was to be sought by denying it to all others."[/B][/I] And nobody listened. For Ike to have the balls to make that speech in 1953, in which he basically told people to quit taking ideas from the Soviet playbook, was impressive. It was spot-on then, and it's spot on now. But Mencken said it best: [I]"The truth, indeed, is something that mankind, for some mysterious reason, instinctively dislikes. Every man who tries to tell it is unpopular, and even when, by the sheer strength of his case, he prevails, he is put down as a scoundrel."[/I] Your bolded line of Ike's farewell address isn't telling me anything I didn't already know - or disagree with. Read the context of the paragraph around that line, and you'll see Ike's concerns, which I think were more like predictions that came true in ways he could not have imagined. And your numbers, like I say, military spending as a percentage of GDP or the federal budget is grossly misleading. [/QUOTE]
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