The world is an unsafe place, and yes, we have to be prepared for any eventuality, but does that mean that we need to spend as much as the next twelve nations combined?
Can we possibly match the two nations with bigger armies, China and India, when they both have3-4 times our population?
Do we really need so many aircraft carriers, and more nuclear weapons, and more bombers than we have now, which cost billions upon billions, while the ranks of the poor and the near poor continue to grow?
Can we intervene in every international crisis, even if the cause is good and moral, or do we have to pick our battles, and only engage militarily when the urgency of intervention is clear cut?
The plan, announced this week by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, to scale down the military to the smallest number of troops since before World War II engagement, in a world where technology, including drones, is going to be used more and more, makes total sense, as future wars will not be fought like World War II or even the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
We will still be number one, but have extra funds available to help promote the “American Dream” for future generations, emphasizing health care, education, housing, and the revival of the flagging middle class!
The Republican Party will have a “knee jerk” reaction to any proposal to scale down the military, but it can and must be done in a sensible, rational way, or else the national debt increase, much fueled by defense spending out of all control in the past decade, doubling over that time, will suffocate American democracy!
The Founding Fathers did not wish a defense behemoth as the Pentagon has become since World War II, and the Cold War is over, and the whole strategy of defense can be modified safely, and save trillions of dollars over time!
Hello Professor,
“Can we intervene in every international crisis, even if the cause is good and moral,”
This segment statement makes me think of the T. S. Elliott line from “Murder in the Cathedral”. A verse drama that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170,
“The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”
Martin Luther King Jr. quoted this T. S. Elliott line in his now famous, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”.
I would also point out that just as industry has been able cut back their workforce with the implementation of computer technologies and automation, the military is implementing the exact same aspects. Thus the need for the amount of “Boots on the Ground” has lessened.
I was talking with a naval officer from the Naval Academy and with the new gas turbine destroyers we are using today, the amount of men to operate that ship is about 1/3 of what it took when I served on a steam driven destroyer back in the 70’s.
I would not trust obama with my garbage, our defense?, God save us.
Dave, God will save us from KNOW NOTHINGS like you, who exude hate, and no rationality!
We already seen what he has done to
1 Healthcare, fail
2 Nations world standing, fail
3 Iraq, fail
4 Iran, fail
5 Afghanistan, failing
6. Russia, North Korea, Syria fail
7 economy, fail
8 Energy, complete failure
9. Oath to Office, failed and should be impeached
10. Lieing repeatedly to the American people
11. Using government agencies against American people with differing political views which goes to being also guilty of election tampering. Another reason he should he either in prison or at least impeached.
I could go on and on. Oh as far as hate, well I do hate what this criminal has done to our country, all clear thinking Americans should have the sense to understand the tyranny this criminal is subjecting us to.
You have all the answers, Dave, don’t you, and fail to realize that George W. Bush created many of the problems faced by Obama, and yet all you can see is negative, negative, negative. You have a lot of problems, and you drink the KOOL AID of Fox and the hateful talk show hosts, and think that is truth! Amazing! 🙁