When Eisenhower left office in 1960 he warned the nation to beware of the military-industrial complex…he gave a rather dire warning of a beast that could be born….and his prediction was ever so accurate.  But what is the MIC?

a concept commonly used to refer to policy relationships between governments, national armed forces, and industrial support they obtain from the commercial sector in political approval for research, development, production, use, and support for military training, weapons, equipment, and facilities within the national defense and security policy.

It has become a helluva beast giving the MIC a unwarranted amount of influence with the lawmakers of the country.  In Eisenhower’s words:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction… 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.

About now you are wondering just where I am going with this….Patience is a virtue…….

Colin Powell has seen the rise of yet another beast….the Terror-Industrial Complex…..raising its ugly head and just as Eisenhower warned of the MIC, Powell is doing so about the TIC…this could cost him politically.

The following is a post from Lincoln Madison, blogspot.com:

a two-year-old interview by Will Prescott, a college newspaper reporter, with former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, following up on Powell’s comments about the “Terror-Industrial Complex” in an interview with Walter Isaacson in the September 2007 issue of GQ magazine. I had to hunt around to find the video — several sources had broken links — and I didn’t find the text of the full interview. The complete transcript follows below the fold, with verified links to the original video of the interview, the articles from The Oklahoma Daily before and after the interview, and the GQ interview. Incidentally, Keith Olbermann credits Terry Gilliam, the one American-born member of the Monty Python crew, with bringing this interview back to his attention.

LINKS:
Colin Powell “terrorist-industrial complex” video on OU’s website (interview by Will Prescott, The Oklahoma Daily and Nick Tankersley, The Hub)
The Oklahoma Daily/Hub article before the interview [2007-09-11]
The Oklahoma Daily/Hub article after the interview [2007-09-12]
GQ interview by Walter Isaacson of Colin Powell, Sept. 2007
The specific part of the Isaacson interview about the Terror-Industrial Complex

Will Prescott: Good morning – good afternoon, Sir. Again, in a [September 2007] GQ interview with Walter Isaacson, you said we need to be beware of creating a “Terror-Industrial Complex.” What would a Terror-Industrial Complex look like, and are we headed in that direction?

Powell: Well, I think we have to beware of it. We’re spending an enormous amount of money on homeland security — and I think we should spend whatever it takes — but I think we have to be careful that we don’t get so caught up in trying to throw money at the terrorist and counterterrorist problem that we’re essentially creating an industry that will only exist as long as you keep the terrorist threat pumped up. And so that would be the context of that comment, and I feel strongly about it — just as, many years ago, [U.S. President] General [Dwight] Eisenhower warned [PDF] about a Military-Industrial Complex. I just wanted to make a point: defend ourselves, screen ourselves, do everything we can to go after terrorists and defeat terrorism, because it is a threat, it is an enemy — but let’s keep it in perspective. Let’s keep it in context, because the United States has many needs. We have needs to deal with the poverty of some of our people, education, the environment. There are lots of things America needs to do, and we have to make sure we only spend that which is absolutely essential on our military, on our police forces, and on our [anti-]terrorist activities.

Now you can see what Powell was talking about…all you need to do is look at the MIC and see the horrible voracious beast that it has become and now we are creating yet another hungry monster that will eat and eat until there is nothing left……it is like the government has created a Frankenstein and then created its mate…..all in the name of national security.  IT’S ALIVE!

It may be too late already…..this beast like the beast from Hell…once released is here forever.