Some things just won’t go away. Among them: Cold War anachronisms and military-industrial complex updates.
We were recently reminded that Cuba isn’t the only remnant of America’s involvement in the Cold War. The U.S. just announced a major ($5.85 billion) arms sales package to Taiwan to upgrade its fleet of (145) F-16 fighter jets. The announcement also underscored America’s commitment and obligation–harkening back to 1979 legislation–to helping the island nation defend itself. No need, of course, in the post-Cold War era to actually mention from whom. What Red menace?
And that commitment would have been a lot more had certain Republican and Democratic lawmakers–as well as GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney–had their way. They want the U.S. to accede to Taiwan’s additional request for 66 new F-16s. According to the Obama Administration, that request is still under consideration. Left unsaid: There’s a lot of money, influence and jobs at stake here.
Something else that should always be under consideration is President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous farewell warning in January 1961. To wit: “…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….”