Ike’s Warning on Military Spending

In the midst of the insanity now going on, along comes Willens with a breath of fresh air. The crushing budget negotiations could easily have been resolved by further reductions in the military but for our precipitous, saber-rattling excursion into the Persian Gulf.

Having long ago appointed ourselves as world policemen, we continue to maintain bloated troops and equipment around the globe, meanwhile living beyond our means. And why didn’t we send troops and equipment already under arms in Europe, Japan, Korea, etc. to the gulf?

Eisenhower warned us of the evils of the military-industrial complex long ago. Let us wise up and insist on more realistic cutbacks to finally rid us of this cancer in our society. The Japanese and West Germans are not doing too badly following such sane policies.

SANDY ELSTER, Venice