"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist."
Consistently, Republican Ike sought to cut the Pentagon's budget by pressing on us common-sense visuals such as:
"The jet plane that roars overhead costs three quarters of a million dollars. That's more than a man will make in his lifetime. What world can afford this kind of thing for long?"
Former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Gates (2005-2011) echoed Ike's concerns:
"Does the number of warships we have, and are building, really put America at risk, when the U.S. battle fleet is larger than the next 13 navies combined -- 11 of which are our partners and allies?"Is it a dire threat that by 2020, the United States will have only 20 times more advanced stealth fighters than China?"
When military spending budgeted to Cyber Security, Energy Dept., Homeland Security, State Dept., Veterans Affairs, and the Overseas Contingency Fund are added to the Department of Defense's budget for 2015, the total equals $763.9 BILLION. (http://useconomy.about.com/od/usfederalbudget/p/military_budget.htm
In 2013 spending on the Department of Defense, War, and nuclear consumed 57% of the Discretionary Budget, add Veterans Affairs and it reaches 62%. This does not include interest payments on our national debt related to wars. http://www.oneminuteforpeace.org/budget
From 1950-2000 we placed 118.9 million Americans into active military service (2.33 million annual average), according to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
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