If you actually read what he said he meant that MIC was what was going to keep anyone from coming after us. He was not criticizing its' existence
He gave a pretty balanced assessment. He did say it was essential to keep us safe. With the ability of the country to get pulled into massively destructive wars on an almost instantaneous basis (especially with regard to nuclear weapons and the Soviet threat in Europe), we couldn't afford to transition to a wartime economy on and off. We had to maintain a significant permanent military force, continuously develop new and better weapons and equipment, and maintain the ability to quickly produce arms. However, he recognized and cautioned against that system gaining "unwarranted influence" that jeopardized American liberty. He was right in both regards, and I say that as someone who's soldly pro-military.
An often forgotten part of his speech was his warning that science was starting to be corrupted by government policy and money. Everybody remembers the MIC comment, but this part of his speech might have been even more on the ball.
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