The emergence of the military-industrial complex

[Jochen Fromm-3]

At two points in histoy the United States army
changed dramatically, during the times of General
George Washington (the American Revolutionary War)
and later during the times of General Dwight D.
Eisenhower (the second World War). Both generals,
Washington and Eisenhower, have been successful Commander
in Chief of the Army and later President. At both
times the role of the Army was the subject of
considerable debate: at the time of George Washington
there was a general aversion to maintaining a standing
army among the Americans, and Washington firmly believed
that the people are sovereign and that no one should ever
come to power in America because of military force, or
because of birth in a noble family.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower coined the term of the
military-industrial complex. The general who has "won"
the second world war knew the system well, and he said
1961 in his farewell address to the American people:
"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. We must never let the
weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes."
http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/farewell.htm

Is the role of the military-industrial complex
a topic of debate in the USA, or has all this been
forgotten ?

-J.

[David Breecker]

Check out the documentary "Why We Fight" (the recent film, not the WWII
propaganda), which uses Eisenhower's warnings as its narrative spine.  I
believe you can download it.
db

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www.BreeckerAssociates.com
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Santa Fe:    505-690-2335



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jochen Fromm" <[hidden email]>
To: "'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group'"
<Friam at redfish.com>
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 2:30 AM
Subject: [FRIAM] The emergence of the military-industrial complex

>
> At two points in histoy the United States army
> changed dramatically, during the times of General
> George Washington (the American Revolutionary War)
> and later during the times of General Dwight D.
> Eisenhower (the second World War). Both generals,
> Washington and Eisenhower, have been successful Commander
> in Chief of the Army and later President. At both
> times the role of the Army was the subject of
> considerable debate: at the time of George Washington
> there was a general aversion to maintaining a standing
> army among the Americans, and Washington firmly believed
> that the people are sovereign and that no one should ever
> come to power in America because of military force, or
> because of birth in a noble family.
>
> President Dwight D. Eisenhower coined the term of the
> military-industrial complex. The general who has "won"
> the second world war knew the system well, and he said
> 1961 in his farewell address to the American people:
> "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. We must never let the
> weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
> democratic processes."
> http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/farewell.htm
>
> Is the role of the military-industrial complex
> a topic of debate in the USA, or has all this been
> forgotten ?
>
> -J.
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
>

[Jochen Fromm-3]

 
This is in fact the documentary film I have seen in a
German translation on TV, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/
or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Fight_(2005_film)
which "inspired" me to this posting. Very interesting
film, it discusses the dangers of a military-industrial
complex and mentions the unintended blowback effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowback_(intelligence)

For example the part of Iran: everyone knows that after
the dictatorship of the Shah was overthrown, Ayatollah
Khomeini helped to transform the Iran into an "evil" islamic
republic. Yet how did the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi come to
power? It was the USA and the CIA who triggered the events in
Iran in the first place: the Iranian government took action
against the British exploitation of Iranian oil, and the
original prime minister was removed from power in a plot
orchestrated by British and U.S. intelligence agencies
to protect their oil interests. This "Operation Ajax"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax) started
the mess, because it handed the power back to the former
Shah, who no one really wanted.

This reminded me of the Pearl Habor story, as it
is outlined in the book by Robert Stinnett
"Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743201299/sr=8-1/qid=1144093607
He argues that the Pearl Habor attack in WWII was triggered
by the USA, who declared an oil embargo on the Japanese.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's tactic of blocking the
sale of oil to the Japanese, maintaining a heavy US
naval presence in the Pacific, and supporting Chiang
Kai-shek in China finally lead to the Japanese attack.

Even if this a bit speculative (it is a least true
that Roosevelt restricted the sales of oil and
other strategic materials to Japan) it is clear that
the real history is complex. It is a long chain of
interrelated events, and we tend to see only a small
part of it.

-J.


-----Original Message-----
From: David Breecker
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 8:50 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] The emergence of the military-industrial complex

Check out the documentary "Why We Fight" (the recent film, not the WWII
propaganda), which uses Eisenhower's warnings as its narrative spine.  I
believe you can download it.
db