Interesting interview with Eugene Jarecki on The Real News web-site. Jarecki talks about ideas in his book, “The American Way Of War,” and, his book, “Why We Fight.”
Jarecki expresses a lot of admiration for Dwight Eisenhower’s warning of the military industrial complex and says that President Obama should heed Eisenhower’s example and advice. He feels that a military point of view actually diminishes military aggression. Jarecki notes that, at the time of Eisenhower’s famous speech, it was Democrats who were pushing for more military spending and were accusing Eisenhower of allowing the military to become weak, of allowing a missile gap, etc.
Jarecki speaks of the trillion dollar military as being part of a “rapacious predatory power — undermining the very soul of our democracy.” He says this monster spending machine is under better control in other democracies but that in the U.S. the military industrial complex uses effective “political engineering,” to get its way. He points out that the B2 Bomber has production in every state, so many congressman have politically benefited from money spent on the B2. He says that many projects are organized, not for efficiency, but to exert the greatest political influence. Jarecki also says that our campaign financing laws empower the military industrial complex to be effective in their “political engineering.”
The F-22 fighter jet, according to Jarecki, has already cost over $70 billion that that it is “a case study of defense procurement.” He says it illustrates a “great shortcoming of democracy,” that time and again we choose that which is “most profitable for the few at the expense of the many.”
The interviews are worth the time to listen to. They include a plea from Real News to commit to help fund their efforts to create an independent news source.
Interview with Eugence Jarecki: Part One
Interview with Eugence Jarecki: Part Two
