Sen. Henry 'Scoop' Jackson.

Sen. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, D-Wash., was renown as being both a fervent pro-military, anti-communist and a strong supporter of civil rights and the environment. He penned this commentary, "Guardians of Liberty," in the March-April 1970 of Ordnance when opposition to the Vietnam War was at its peak and centrists such as himself were scarce. Jackson served in the House and Senate from 1941 to 1983. "The armed forces of the United States are a shield behind which all American citizens can work for a saner, happier life despite threats from illiberal agitators of the extreme left and right," he wrote.

As the frustrations with our many problems pile up, some people seem to need a villain, and they have discovered something they think can be portrayed as one--the so-called military-industrial complex. What "Communist" was to [Sen.] Joe McCarthy, the "military-industrial complex" now is to some people I used to think were liberals.

Twenty years ago, anyone Joe McCarthy disagreed with was labeled a Communist. Today, anyone some so-called liberals disagree with is identified as a member of the military-industrial complex.

Shades of Sen. [Gerald] Nye and his attacks on the "munitions makers"! In the 1930s Americans so nearly persuaded themselves that a munitions lobby had caused the First World War that they almost ignored Hitler and the Nazi threat.

Today, some people are telling us that there is no real external threat. They are saying this at the very time...