Cowardice in the Face of Your Friends

The military-industrial complex watches out for its own interests and they’re not necessarily identical to the best interests of the nation or of its people. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a highly decorated general himself, warned America of that fact almost exactly 50 years ago in his farewell address to the nation.

That danger has not abated since, as shown by the revelation that a U.S. general ordered psycho-warfare attacks on American politicians. The United States, with near-paranoid security fanaticism, recently ramped up its defense budget to $636 billion for 2010. One hundred and twenty billion alone is earmarked for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and troop levels there have never been this high. Despite that, the military still seeks more money and more troops, apparently with every means at its disposal.

President Obama was put under extreme public pressure by a cheeky General Stanley McChrystal to increase troop strength in Afghanistan. McChrystal requested 80,000 more soldiers, and Obama gave him 30,000 — and even that was more than he wanted to approve. For that reason — not because of any purported disrespectful remarks — Obama later fired him from his post as Afghanistan commander. That was almost an act of civilian resistance to the military. This was no case of cowardice in the face of one’s friends.