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From The Militant, Vol. 12 No. 52, 27 December 1948, p. 2.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
The trend toward militarization of the United States continued to develop during 1948. The crises in Europe arising from the “cold” war against the Soviet Union were utilized to whip up one war scare after another. These served to further entrench the military caste, increase expenditures for armaments and intensify the drive to Prussianize the youth.
In March, for instance, the Truman Administration gave the impression it was ready to plunge America into war following the Stalinist seizure of power in Czechoslovakia and the prospect that the Stalinists might score an election victory in Italy. This war scare helped the militarists stampede a law through Congress for peacetime conscription a bare three years after the end of World War II.
The top brass control the State Department; and in such strategic countries as Germany and Japan act directly through proconsuls like Clay and MacArthur. Administration of foreign policy made it easier for the military clique to use the 1948 diplomatic crises abroad in maneuvering for greater power on the home front.
Already the exercise a baneful influence in the shaping of domestic policy. They hold key government posts and dominate the White House. They have powerful spokesmen in Congress and run one of the most powerful unofficial lobbies in Washington. Their tightening grip on the country’s educational institutions was symbolized in 1948 by the installation of General Eisenhower as head of Columbia University.
As the year closed with 1½ million men in the Armed Forces, Truman was again preparing to press for Universal Military Training of the youth under control of the totalitarian-minded officer caste.
The trend is unmistakable. American imperialism is deliberately shaping a military caste on the model of Prussian Germany. This means that in America as in Germany the officer corps will become increasingly dangerous to democracy, serving as a focus for the totalitarian infection.
Truman’s budget demands in 1948 were mainly designed to speed the transformation of America into a gigantic military camp. The President asked six times as much for war preparations in 1949 as he did for human needs and 17 times as much for atom bomb development as for housing.
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Last updated on 28 March 2023