From a weekend speech in Kansas, where Gates spoke of the need to reign in military spending, and not just for the short term: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/09/gates.defense/index.html Sensible talk gives me a little bit of hope on this front. Keep in mind, this is the largest chunk of the federal budget, by far. 40 cents on your tax dollar. "For example, should we really be up in arms over a temporary projected shortfall of about 100 Navy and Marine strike fighters relative to the number of carrier wings, when America's military possesses more than 3,200 tactical combat aircraft of all kinds?" Gates asked. "Does the number of warships we have and are building really put America at risk when the U.S. battle fleet is larger than the next 13 navies combined, 11 of which belong to allies and partners? Is it a dire threat that by 2020 the United States will have only 20 times more advanced stealth fighters than China?"
Right -- someone with a lot of $ at stake in their industry. But in my memory, I haven't heard a defense secretary speak this bluntly about the issue. It's encouraging, because any savings at all in the military make an enormous impact on the federal budget.
the numbers of weapons and money spent on our defense compared to other countries is outstanding, the cold war is over
The number of weapons purchased and the amount of money spent on out defense compared to other countries is staggering given that the cold war is over. (couldn't help myself, sorry for the fixin')
Why are we still spending money on carriers and battleships at all? Especially when our most likely potential naval enemies (after the Somali pirates) have stealthy, small submarines that could sink our entire fleet without notice. It seems like the worst invitation for attack since we had the entire Pacific fleet within air distance of a country that we were in a trade war with.
Roll your eyes all you like, but if he accomplishes 2-3% in one year that reverses an enormous run-up in spending from 1980 forward, and especially since the Sept. 11 attacks, when the military budget has doubled in ten years.
The reason the federal budget is such a mess is because we sit and roll our eyes at 2-3% increases as well. You're generally not going to cut out expenses in huge chunks; things like this will make a difference in aggregate.
They were used a lot during the Iraq War, especially early on. That doesn't keep them from being very vulnerable to attack.
As we learned in Iraq, we build the military of today to fight the wars of tomorrow. If you seriously believe in global warming or peak oil, that might be quite a different world.
Isn't that "we build the military to fight the last war"? I really hope Gates is successful in cutting our ridiculously bloated budget but I have a bad feeling nothing is going to come from this.
