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Written by Bettie J. Reina
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Saturday, 10 March 2007 |
Published in The Star-Ledger
Click here for link to published letter
Dwight Eisenhower said, "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."
Industries like Boeing, General Dynamics, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman, United Technologies, Blackwater and the Carlyle Group make decisions based on their bottom lines, with campaign contributions to Congress guaranteeing approval of billion-dollar contracts.
The Government Accountability Office reports that the F-22, designed to fight the former Soviet Union, costs $361 million each but needs major changes for to day's war. "Star Wars," costing billions, is worthless against hand- carried weapons likely to be used by our enemies. "Complex 2030," projected to cost $150 billion by 2030, will build a new nuclear weapons facility. We demand other countries adhere to international nonproliferation, but deny our obligation to pursue nuclear disarmament.
Where is congressional oversight of these and other boondoggles? Perhaps Eisenhower's most prescient comment was: "The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 28 July 2007 )
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