US has forgotten Eisenhower’s warning

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Dwight D. Eisenhower served two terms as United States (US) president, and in his January 1961 farewell address warned against the establishment of a “military-industrial complex” – sadly, that warning went unheeded. Current President Joe Biden has totally embraced supplying Ukraine with as many weapons of war as possible, knowing that those arms and munitions come directly from very powerful US manufacturers. It’s simply pumping more money and jobs into the well-established ‘military-industrial complex’. Of course, much of the weaponry donated to Ukraine by NATO partners is also made in American factories, who greatly benefit from those foreign sales.

On the 500-day anniversary of the attack by Russia, President Biden gave Ukraine another US$800-million donation of weaponry, including cluster bombs. Most countries of the world, including a large majority of NATO members, have signed a convention prohibiting cluster bombs, but that doesn’t deter President Biden, who acquiesced to Ukraine’s request for them. The US used cluster bombs in recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where many civilians suffered loss of limbs or sight, or even death when handling the bomblets that had not exploded when initially fired. Faulty bomblets remained live for weeks or even months until they were picked up, often by children. It’s hard to see the rationale of Ukraine using cluster bombs within its own territory against Russian forces, as Ukrainian civilians, particularly the children, will be at risk later on.

President Eisenhower was the elected Republican candidate in 1952, after a distinguished military career which culminated as supreme commander in Europe for the final three years of World War II. He knew whereof he spoke when it came to military matters, and claimed to be “conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings”. His presidency had a few bumps along the road, of course, and it was later revealed in the Pentagon papers that his administration had not been truthful about their level of involvement with South Vietnam. Today, member states of NATO are twisting themselves into word pretzels, trying not to offend their de facto leader, Joe Biden, in his proxy war against Russia. In fact, political leadership around the world today seems completely devoid of anyone who commands respect for their integrity and honesty, and certainly nobody with the experience and knowledge of a Dwight D. Eisenhower.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada