3) Military Industrial Complex

Military Propaganda History

The Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) is composed of multi-national armed forces, arms manufacturers, arms dealers, suppliers of weapons systems, contracted supplies and services, lobbyists, and their stock-holding government politicians. The term "MIC" has gained popularity after its use in the farewell address of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It includes the entire network of government, company, and military contracts. A similar thesis was expressed by Daniel Guérin, in his 1936 book Fascism and Big Business, about the fascist governments’ support of heavy industry. Industrialists who played a part in the arms industry of this era included Alfred Krupp, Samuel Colt, William Armstrong, Alfred Nobel, and Joseph Whitworth. Today many international corporations continue to profit from selling the weapons of war to all sides.

Technology has always been a part of warfare. However, it was not until the 19th century that military weaponry became so complicated as to require a large subset of industrial effort solely dedicated to warfare. Firearms, artillery, ships, aircraft and missiles required years of specialized labor, as opposed to part-time effort. Furthermore, the length of time necessary to build weapons systems of high complexity and massive integration required pre-planning and construction even during times of peace; thus a portion of superpower economies was dedicated and maintained solely for the purpose of war defense.

The U.S. MIC annually accounts for 47% of the world's total arms expenditures. Prior to World War II the U.S. maintained a small military in times of peace and instead relied on militia or reserves in the event of war. Spending for arms in times of peace was looked upon with suspicion by the people of the United States. The Cold War changed that with the ongoing posturing for instant nuclear M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction), despite the reality that it would likely destroy both superpowers, cause a new Dark Age, or even result in the extinction of the human species.

Operating legally and illegally in the Middle-East today are the following MIC companies: KBR-Halliburton; DynCorp International; Washington Group International; Flour; Perini; Environmental Chemical; Parsons; Blackwater; First Kuwaiti General Trading & Construction; L-3 Communications; and others. Vice-President Dick Cheney profits from Halliburton, and President George Bush profits from Oil Companies. These are supreme examples of modern day War Profiteering.

My objections are to violent “War”, to distinguish it from a broader definition of “war” which means to ‘to be against something’. I do not just object to specific wars but to conventional War as an industry. My objection to War is an objection to my involvement in the conventional organized military establishment and to my involvement in a military which supports aggressive, unquestioning authoritarian conflict.