Eisenhower's Departing Words of Wisdom

Eisenhower Farewell Address

It is tradition for a president to give in inaugural address and a farewell address. These are things that presidents have done for many years and allow the presidents to thank certain people and to address the public with issues they hope to accomplish. One man who warned the United States about a pressing issue is President and supreme commander of the Allied forces, Dwight David Eisenhower. Eisenhower thanked many people and thanked the country for voting him into office but being a general in the armed forces he was aware of how influential private corporations can be in government, this influence of private corporations is called the industrial military complex. Through the years private corporations have extended their reach and the Iraq war is a prime example of an event where private companies and the government worked together to get oil, make money and start a new world order.

One man who was a strong supporter of the Iraq war was Dick Cheney. Dick was the vice president to George W. Bush and before becoming vice president was CEO of a Dallas based Oil Company called Halliburton. When he ran for vice president he retired from being the CEO but still had a large share of the company. Since Halliburton is an oil company and Iraq has a lot of oil, Dick made a contract with Halliburton to privatize the rights to drilling and harvesting of oil in Iraq before the war even started. This quote talks about how much Dick benefited from this contract. “Between 1992 and 1999, the Pentagon paid BRS more than $1.2 billion for its work in trouble spots around the globe. In May of 1999, the US Army Corps of Engineers re-enlisted the company's help in the Balkans, giving it a new five-year contract worth $731 million.” As you can see, Dick made a lot of money which makes people wonder if he was using his seat in government to make money for himself when he retired, which with these numbers and the large amount of shares he has in the company that would make a lot of sense.

Many people believe war has no winner, but in the Iraq War their was definitely a winner, and that would be the U.S. military. The military gets a large amount of money from taxes. This quote shows the huge amount of money that the military receives every year. “As MarketWatch's Paul B. Farrell points out, ours is no longer a manufacturing economy or an agricultural economy or even a consumer economy but a war economy, which requires Americans "to surrender 54% of their tax dollars to a war machine." The numbers alone are staggering: the United States presently spends more than $700 billion on its military, which accounts for 48% of the world's total military spending. The military-industrial complex has also helped erect a national security-surveillance state while perpetuating a military empire worldwide” This shows how we use this money for personal gain for the U.S. we go to war not to protect out country but to let private companies and organizations prosper like weapon companies. President Bush Senior is part of a company that goes and buys weapon manufacturers fixes them up and sells them for a much larger profit.

The Project for the New American Century is the spreading of American ideals and influence across the Nation. The person who started up this group is William Kristol and many leaders who were in office with George W Bush are also members of the group including Dick Cheney. Some believe that this is just a way that the U.S. is trying to take control of the whole entire world, which may be true but its true intentions will never really be announced until the events they set in motion are leading to their real goal. For now they say that "American leadership is both good for America and good for the world" which basically is saying that America should show people the right way to act and how each government should be which actually goes against our way of life. In the Bill of Rights, it says every person has the right to speech, religion, etc… yet when we do this to other people these rules to not apply so that is really the part that makes it feel unjust and giving many people ideas that this is just an organization with intentions to take over the whole world.

Eisenhower’s speech was a warning that we the people should heed, because if it is not followed it will be harmful for citizens and will just force us into wars for reasons that are not truly for the people. The Iraq War is just one example of how private organizations that wanted oil, money and power and will sacrifice people who fight for their country as pawns in their quest.

Sources

-Bryce, Bryce. "Cheney's Multi-Million Dollar Revolving Door." MotherJones.com | Home - Daily News, Political Commentary and Analysis. 25 Jan. 2009 .

-Jamil, Mohammad Jamil. "Can Obama restore US's image? | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online." The Nation | The Nation is the most credible of English Newspapers in Pakistan.. 25 Jan. 2009 .

-Turner, Douglas . "Bush failed to heed Eisenhower’s warning : Opinion : The Buffalo News." The Buffalo News. 25 Jan. 2009 .

-Whitehead, Jhon . "Will Obama Be a Peace Maker." Rutherford Institute. 9 Jan. 1925 < st="on">Buffalo News." The Buffalo News. 25 Jan. 2009 .>.