History forgotten

Contemporary US politicians have harmed and compromised the country’s enduring interests by flagrantly ignoring the wise advice of two past presidents, George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower, both celebrated army commanders.

The first president, George Washington is the most iconic figure in US history and is regarded as the “Father of the Nation.” His name was given to the US capital and Washington state, his face appears on US currency, and his career is studied by US schoolchildren. It is ironic that he attained high status simply because he was chosen for command as he was tallest man in a roomful of officers. Under his guidance the Continental Army wrenched independence for the 13 North American colonies from Britain during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). He was unanimously elected president and served two terms in 1788 and 1792. He made two terms a tradition which has been broken only by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 33rd president who was in office from 1933-1945 from the Great Depression through World War II.

Wealthy patrician Washington was a slave owner who had a tobacco and wheat plantation in Virginia but towards the end of his life he opposed slavery and ordered freedom for his slaves in his will. In his Farewell Address he proclaimed that the US should exercise neutrality from European squabbles and warned against permanent alliances with foreign nations and foreign influence and entanglements.

However, Washington’s advice has been ignored. In 1823 President James Monroe declared there should be no European colonialisation or intervention in North and South America while pledging there would be no US intervention in European affairs. In 1898, the US fought a brief war with Spain which ended that country’s colonial empire and led to US acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and the independence of Cuba.

In the 20th century the US became involved in European conflicts. During World War I, the US belatedly joined Britain and France in the battle against Germany. High profile US General John Pershing was the supreme commander of the US army in France from 1917 to 1920. In 1919, the US also deployed 5,000 troops to northern Russia during the civil war to bolster nationalist forces fighting Communists and counter the spread of Communism. In 1950, the US provided the naval, air and ground forces for the UN “police action” to repel Communist North Korea’s invasion of South Korea. Combatting Communism remains a core activity in US foreign policy. Confronting China, the main Communist global power today, is high on the agenda of the Trump administration.

During World War II, the US backed Britain and France in the war against Nazi Germany in 1941 after Germany’s ally Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. Eisenhower was appointed overall commander of Allied forces ahead of the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches which led to the defeat of Germany. In 1949, the US and European powers formed the NATO alliance to counter the ambitions of the Soviet Union and, after its collapse in 1991, Russia. US involvement in both world wars was not voluntary but existential.

However, from 1947-48 until now, the US has grown voluntarily entangled with Israel. This began with the close friendship between then President Harry Truman and his army comrade and former business partner Edward Jacobson. He urged Truman to meet with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and to recognise Israel when it was proclaimed in May 1948. This connection has endured and strengthened. Israel has become a major non-NATO ally and receives unswerving US financial, political, and military support. However, Israel’s destructive military adventures have compromised the US and harmed US regional interests.

Eisenhower was the 34th US president who served from 1953 until 1961. Unlike Washington, Eisenhower did not come from a privileged background. He was raised in Kansas and attended the US military academy at West Point. He was stationed on the home front during World War I although he requested to go to France. While he served under a series of talented generals, his career was stalled by routine assignments until he was sent to the Philippines where he advised the government on the formation of the country’s army and learned to fly. Eisenhower eventually served overseas during World War II and was made overall commander of forces in North Africa and in December 1943 was appointed supreme allied commander in Europe. He organised allied landings on the coast of Normandy and ran the war thereafter. He rejected the use of the atomic bomb in Japan in 1945, arguing that Tokyo was prepared to surrender. After the war, he became president of Columbia University and in 1952 he was drafted as the Republican party’s candidate for the presidency. In his farewell address after two terms, Eisenhower warned against the military industrial complex which he feared was becoming a major economic power on the US domestic scene and influenced US war-and-peace policies.

Israel and NATO members have become major customers of the US military-industrial complex, which now depends on exports to maintain domestic production of military vehicles, war planes, weapons and munitions. The US is the world’s largest arms exporter, accounting for about 43 per cent of global arms sales between 2020-2024. US military industries earned $238 billion in 2023, the State Department reported. Ukraine has become the largest US arms customer since attacked by Russia in 2022.

In 2024, the arms and munitions industry was responsible for as much as $91.65 billion in economic activity in the country. This creates jobs and pays billions in taxes, making the military industrial complex an essential actor on US political, economic and social levels.

Photos: AFP