Society

‘The Moral High Ground’: CNN’s Jack Cafferty Slams Afghan War, Says “Military-Industrial Complex Has America by the Throat”

March 14, 2012 by Brett Wilkins in Mass Media, The Moral High Ground, War Crimes & Atrocities, War on Terror with 0 Comments

CNN commentator Jack Cafferty went off script Tuesday, railing against the interminable US-led war in Afghanistan and acknowledging the insidious influence of the military-industrial complex.

The Raw Story reports that Cafferty was speaking in reaction to the slaughter of 16 innocent Afghans, including 9 children, by a rogue US soldier last Sunday.

“How much is enough?” Cafferty asked. “The United States has been in Afghanistan for more than ten years. And President Obama insists we will remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2014. Why? What will be accomplished by staying in that godforsaken hellhole for another 20 months that hasn’t been accomplished in 10 and a half years?”

The veteran newsman pointed to recent events such as the burning of Qurans by US troops, the desecration of corpses and the most recent slaughter of innocent civilians as reasons to end the war, rightfully claiming that those atrocities stoke hatred of the United States.

“Yet the Obama White House is out with a statement insisting that none of this will deter us from our mission, which is what exactly?” Cafferty continued. “I have no idea what the hell we’re doing there anymore. Isn’t Osama bin Laden dead?”

“Why don’t the American people have anything to say about what we’re doing?” Cafferty railed. “We have no voice in any of this stuff any more. They go into Iraq, they go into Afghanistan, they might go into Iran. We got nothing. We’re just kept in the dark and the government does whatever the hell it feels like doing, or preferably what it is being told to do by the people who pay the politicians’ bills. Remember that warning from Dwight Eisenhower about the military-industrial complex? It’s got this country by the throat.”

Cafferty was referring to World War II hero-turned Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, in which he declared:

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

The military-industrial complex refers to the relationship between lawmakers, the military and the “defense” industry, a relationship characterized by “defense” contractors lobbying lawmakers for favorable treatment in return for campaign contributions, leading to a situation in which corporations unduly influence foreign policy matters of life and death. These corporations often make a killing from the killing of war, and a revolving door between the public and private sectors perpetuates the unhealthy relationship.