]]]]]]]]]]]]     THE "MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX"     [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ 
                   Letter to the Editor of the              (12/23/88)
               Honolulu Advertiser (publ. 12/22/1988)  
           by Admiral E. Peter Aurand (Freeman 96825AURA)

[Sysop's note: Like "Too cheap to meter" (see Power Plant floor 6), 
the phrase "Military-industrial complex" is grossly distorted by the 
media from the meaning Eisenhower gave it.]

Sir:
   The Haynes Johnson column (12/17) comparing Reagan's and Ike's
farewell addresses grossly distorts what Ike really said and its
current relevance.
   Before issuing his warning against the danger of the military-
industrial complex gaining unwarranted influence in the councils
of government, Ike strongly stated:                                  
   * We face a global threat.                                        
   * In modern war we will not have time, as we have in the past, to 
     arm after an initial attack.                                     
   * Thus for the first time in our history we need a large arms      
     industry in peacetime                                            
   He described the threat: "We face a hostile ideology -- global in   
scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in  
method." Perhaps Reagan's "evil empire" was an understatement. Taken 
in context, Ike's warnings on the external and internal military     
threats have proved to be excellent guidance.
   His warning against the dangers of a technocracy imposed by a 
federally funded, science-dominated academic elite had some basis at 
the time he spoke. The national reaction to Sputnik had caused a   
wave of emphasis on science in our education system to the consterna-
tion of the academes in the liberal arts.                   
   Today, however, the situation is the reverse of what Ike feared.   
The science community is paralyzed by a phony, egotistical self-   
guilt, and the technophobes in academia have had a field day for a   
generation, teaching our young people to scorn the sciences and feel 
guilty for being Americans. Aided by a couple of administration in   
which "social engineering" was more fashionable than science, techno-
logical leadership is passing from the United States to nations who 
have struck a more rational balance.                                      
   If Johnson's analysis of Reagan's farewell is as slipshod and      
distorted as that of Ike's, his entire column should be forgotten.   
                                                                     
     E. P. Aurand, 
     Naval Aide to the President (1957-1961)          
                                                                     
                       *   *   *

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