[Roritharr]

I wonder if he really meant that though, he basically defined the terms of the cold war and the subsequent decades spanning arms race.

Not that someone can't regret having to do something they don't see an alternative to, I just wonder how sincere he was.

[supermanfan]

As a student of WW2, there's no indication that Ike was not serious about what he said in that quote.

In fact, he was offered and declined a presidential ticket immed. after WW2 to command NATO in Korea. So he wasn't politically-motivated.

One thing you could possibly fault Ike for is that when he criticized the military-industrial complex (MIC), he pulled his punches: he wanted to add Congress (a la MICC) but realized that doing so would make them feel defensive and reduce his support.

The reason Ike talked about the wastefulness of war was that the entire industrial outputs of the USA, Europe and Japan for almost a decade were wasted.

[acct1771]

Happy to see this discussed on HN.

Please, please read this to get a better understanding for yourself: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp