President Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) bid farewell to the nation in 1961 as his Presidency came to an end. According to the National Archives, many expected the military leader and hero of World War II to deliver a nostalgic “old soldier” speech and were surprised he instead issued strong warnings about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.”
Ike’s address is more powerful and meaningful today than ever from its aspirations to its dire warnings. In part, he said, “Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace, foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity, and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people.”
He reminded Americans that there was no “armaments industry” until the major world wars and, while creating this industry was necessary, it carried significant risks. “…an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.”
“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. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.”
Ike went on to sound a cautionary note about the dangers of the government exercising control over technological and scientific advances. The “sweeping changes in industrial-military posture” according to Ike, were brought about by a “technical revolution.” During this revolution “research has become central…more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by or at the direction of the Federal government.”
“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and gravely to be regarded.” While “… holding scientific research and discovery in respect, …we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.”
Fast forward to 2024. Two major hurricanes pummeled the Southeastern states within a period of weeks and wreaked havoc and destruction. Climate change zealots immediately reignited predictions of increasingly more severe weather events and our ultimate demise if we don’t change our ways. Pushback was swift and some even suggested the government may be using science to intensify storms to impose their climate change agenda on the American people.
The media responded with snickering and belittling. They pronounced the idea of government manipulation of the weather more craziness from the usual “conspiracy theorists.” Ridiculously impossible. Ridiculously impossible like accessing a universe of information from a computer held in the palm of your hand. Ridiculously impossible like an International Space Station orbiting the earth every 90 minutes 250 miles above the earth’s surface at 17,500 miles per hour.
In 1972, there were still many journalists who would follow the truth wherever it led them. On July 2,1972, in an article entitled “Rainmaking is Used as a Weapon by U.S.”, the New York Times reported that “the United States has been secretly seeding clouds over north Vietnam, Laos and South Vietnam to increase and control the rainfall for military purposes.” Called Operation Popeye, this weather manipulation was a form of “meteorological warfare” spearheaded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Air Force. The objective was to muddy the roads and flood the enemy’s lines of communication. Sources also said, “that a method had been ‘developed for treating clouds with a chemical that eventually produced an acidic rainfall capable of fouling the operation of North Vietnamese radar equipment’.”
“The cloud seeding operations necessarily were keyed to the two main monsoon seasons…”
“According to a document contained in the Pentagon Papers, the Defense Department’s secret history of the war, weather modification was one of seven basic options for stepping up the war that were presented on request by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the White House.”
The article went on to describe a bitter dispute within the Johnson administration about the ethics of the operation. The dispute was summarized by a State Department source who said the rainmaking ‘might violate what we considered the general rule of thumb for an illegal weapon of war – something that would cause unusual suffering or disproportionate damage.’ There was also concern about the unknown ecological risks.
The Times reporters were never able to identify exactly where the basic research for this operation occurred but they narrowed it down to Navy scientists. They were also able to determine it was under direct control of the White House and in the ‘70’s when Congress tried to get more information about weather modification programs in Southeast Asia, they were blocked by Henry Kissinger, the President’s advisor on national security.
Many Americans will be shocked to learn for the first time that our government was able to modify weather more than 50 years ago during the Vietnam war. It is sobering to consider how much technology has advanced in the 50 years since. We have gone from computers filling an entire room to being handheld with capacity doubling every year and a half since 1975. Astronauts are living in space for as long as a year. Cell phones, social media, DNA testing and endless other advances have reshaped our lives. We are left to wonder about the current state of “meteorologic manipulation” research.
Am I suggesting that Hurricanes Helene and Milton were manipulated by the government for political purposes? Absolutely not. I have no facts to support such a claim. Do I believe there are many people throughout government in positions of tremendous power and influence who will use any means available to manipulate the American people to advance their political agenda? Without a doubt.
We have drifted far from the ideals that made our country exceptional. The road back will be long and difficult. It will take leaders who are strong, fearless, and willing to be disruptive. It’s time to make America great again. Elect Donald Trump President of the United States and Eric Hovde Wisconsin Senator on November 5.
