Eisenhower's warning about it is always truncated. Here's what Eisenhower also said:
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known of any of my predecessors in peacetime, or, indeed, by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.
Eisenhower experienced the normality of America without that arms industry of his presidency which was the new normal. It was natural to regret that and warn about the new development--even as he knew it was vital to have.
It would be nice if we didn't need so much of a military and defense industry. But we are a long way from being an isolated nation apart from and insulated from the major players in world politics.
