September 11, 2020
In his press conference on Sept 7, President Donald Trump – the commander-in-chief of the US forces – laid bare what none of his predecessors did; in unequivocal terms, Trump called out the Pentagon for “wanting to fight wars to please the companies producing military hardware.
“I’m not saying the military is in love with me; the soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
With this Trump reminded the Americans as well as the rest of the world of what audience what one of his predecessors – President Dwight Eisenhower had spelt out as the creeping danger to the American society i.e. the imilitary industrial complex (MIC).
In his farewell address on January 17, 1961, Eisenhower cautioned the nation in the following 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. 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.
The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. 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.
Trump’s presser came on the heels of an announcement by Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, on troops’ withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.
McKenzie said U.S. military would draw down to 3,000 troops in Iraq this month and 4,500 in Afghanistan by November, leaving many hawks within the security establishment shocked and puzzled.
Equally disappointed were those key stakeholders in Afghanistan who had considered the pullout vows as a “bluff” and had hoped this might come about only after the results of the November 3, Presidential election.
Trump’s rather disparaging remarks on the informal alliance between Pentagon – the nation’s military – and the defense industry i.e. military industrial complex carried hardly any surprise for those who know him as a “matter-of-facty, plain-talking businessman who says and means business regardless what detractors might think about it.
So, here you go with Donald Trump, who abhors generals for wanting to fight endless wars abroad at the cost of the American lives. He looks determined to put an end to that, defying all odds. Let us see to what extent does he succeed.
The author Imtiaz Gul is the Executive Director of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Afghan Studies Center (ASC), Islamabad.
Published under an arrangement between Afghan Studies Center (ASC) and MATRIX MAG.
