This farewell message still has lessons for us

"America is today the strongest, the most influential and the most productive nation in the world. "Although proud of our "pre-eminence, "we now face "a prolonged and complex struggle with ... a hostile ideology global in scope ... ruthless in purpose and insidious in method." We must prevent "this world of ours, ever growing smaller, from becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate."

by Stanley A. Weiss

Those words easily could be spoken by President Bush as he leads the nation in a war on terrorism. Yet that prophetic message was delivered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his now-legendary farewell address 42 years ago today. Although meant for a different time and place, Ike's words are even more relevant today.

The final speech of the 34th president, delivered on Jan. 17, 1961, three days before Ike left office, is remembered most for his warning about the "military-industrial complex." Regrettably, the phrase almost always is quoted out of context, and despite the attempts by both the political left and right, Ike's message doesn't fit neatly into a liberal or conservative category.

Mr. Eisenhower was neither condemning nor praising the military-industrial complex. He recognized that the nation no longer had the luxury of waiting until it was under attack before tooling up and recruiting troops. America was "compelled to create" an "immense military establishment." At the same time, he warned against the 'unwarranted influence" of a large standing army coexisting with a permanent arms industry, which carried "grave implications" for "the very structure of our society."

Indeed, the often overlooked essence of the speech was a broader vision: the need for balance - "balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future."

Today, liberals and conservatives argue over whether that balance has been struck or sub-vetted here at home - whether domestic security measures since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are a justified response to a mortal threat to the nation or an excessive infringement on individual liberties.

What Ike said about the enormous latent power of the military-industrial complex might apply equally to the emerging homeland security complex: "The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted."

How can the nation resolve this age-old tension between security and liberty in our own time?

To his credit, Ike left us an answer. "Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry" he said, "can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." Both supporters and skeptics of the Bush administration's domestic anti-terrorism efforts should find solace in those words.

An alert and knowledgeable citizenry - or, as Mr. Bush describes it, a vigilant "culture of alertness" - is more important than ever, with terrorist adversaries seeking to strike us where we live, work and play. To its credit, the business community is playing a critical role in securing the homeland, offering invaluable insights and technology through innovative partnerships with government.
Likewise, an alert and knowledgeable citizenry is necessary to avoid what former House Majority Leader Dick Armey called the "awful, dangerous seduction" of trading away too much liberty for security.

If Ike were alive today and watching the republic struggle to adapt to the new circumstances thrust upon it, he would remind us that our task remains the same: "to mold, to balance and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system" so that "security and liberty may prosper together."