War Without End

Jeff Huber over at Pen and Sword has a good analysis this morning of the Iraq situation and why we are probably looking at more of the same or worse when it comes to Iraq and the Middle East. Now that the media has bought into the meme that Rumsfeld was the reason we have failed in Iraq the neocons can push the idea that we can now "get serious" about the war.

Bush and the others like Bill Kristol and Cheney are signed on to idea that we just need more troops to get the job done and that is exactly what is going to happen in the near future. Never forget that the PNAC's goal from the beginning was to establish a permanent military presence in the Middle East and they are not going to let the debacle in Iraq sway them from their primary goal. They are talking surge and temporary now but it is already clear with their talk of a larger military that they really mean permanent.

No one in the media is asking the question about why we need a larger military. There are no other superpowers to defend ourselves against. We are it and as Jeff points out they only conflicts we are likely to face that will require a large ground force are ones like Iraq that we start ourselves. The reality is that most of our potential adversaries will call for "high tech" hardware action and not massive armies on the ground.

At least for the next couple of years all I can see is more and more money being poured into an ever increasing military and if someone like McCain is elected in 2008 it will go on for years more. Eisenhower warned us years ago about this in his farewell address...

Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.

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. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

1961 was a long time ago but viewed from out vantage point today Eisenhower was prescient. Stop by Pen and Sword and let Jeff explain it.