This new coalition of companies, agencies, and lobbyists dwarfs the system known by Eisenhower when he warned Americans to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence… by the military-industrial complex”. Not only would a war maximise the inherent powers of the president, but it would maximise the budgets for military and homeland agencies. This concerted effort by leaders like former Vice President Dick Cheney (himself the former CEO of defence-contractor Halliburton) was not some empty rhetorical exercise. Former President George W Bush and his aides insisted on calling counter-terrorism efforts a “war”. The new military-industrial complex is fuelled by a conveniently ambiguous and unseen enemy: the terrorist. While perpetual war constitutes perpetual losses for families, and ever expanding budgets, it also represents perpetual profits for a new and larger complex of business and government interests. No sooner do we draw down on operations in Iraq than leaders demand an intervention in Libya or Syria or Iran. Fifty years and some later, Americans find themselves in what seems like perpetual war.
In January 1961, US President Dwight D Eisenhower used his farewell address to warn the nation of what he viewed as one of its greatest threats: the military-industrial complex composed of military contractors and lobbyists perpetuating war.Įisenhower warned that “an immense military establishment and a large arms industry” had emerged as a hidden force in US politics and that Americans “must not fail to comprehend its grave implications”. The speech may have been Eisenhower’s most courageous and prophetic moment.