Must read: Rachel Maddow's "Drift"
A quotation from James Madison opens Maddow's prologue to "Drift" with this ominous warning (published in 1795):
"Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people."
Maddow takes the position in "Drift" that, "Our national security policy isn't much related to its stated justifications anymore. To whatever extent we do argue and debate what defense and intelligence policy ought to be, that debate - our political process - doesn't actually determine what we do."
In short, if we build a military-industrial complex, we are compelled to do something with it, and that something is "war" - or what Maddow refers to in Chapter Eight as "One Hell of a Killing Machine."
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13416
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