“Talk of imminent threat to our national security through the application of external force is pure nonsense.”

—  Douglas MacArthur

Speech to the Michigan legislature, in Lansing, Michigan (15 May 1952), published in General MacArthur Speeches and Reports 1908-1964 (2000) by Edward T. Imparato, p. 206; part of this was also used in a speech in Boston, as quoted in TIME magazine (6 August 1951) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856843,00.html
Context: Talk of imminent threat to our national security through the application of external force is pure nonsense. Our threat is from the insidious forces working from within which have already so drastically altered the character of our free institutions — those institutions we proudly called the American way of life.

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Douglas MacArthur 50
U.S. Army general of the army, field marshal of the Army of… 1880–1964

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