Republican President Dwight Eisenhower warned us decades ago to beware the military-industrial complex, yet submarine after submarine, plane after plane, and war after war have left our country financially bankrupt and his warnings unheeded. Let's continue to blame civic welfare for our woes while ignoring corporate warfare and see where it gets us. We spend as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, yet the irony of it all is that this spending has somehow not resulted in a single widget, gidget or gadget capable of plugging a hole in 5,000 feet of water. Thanks, Ike, for knowing we could do better. RICHARD A. POMMIER, LONG PRAIRIE, MINN.