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I agree. In restrospect, Bush 41's 1992 Quadrennial Defense Review was the most disastrous defense policy document in modern military history. He cut the Army from 36 to 24 division equivalents and the active Army from 18 to 10. We could use those troops now.

Speaking of political support, do you really think that we could have maintained ed an army designed to fight the Red Army? You seem to forget the holiday from history during the 1990s.

I agree. In restrospect, Bush 41's 1992 Quadrennial Defense Review was the most disastrous defense policy document in modern military history. He cut the Army from 36 to 24 division equivalents and the active Army from 18 to 10. We could use those troops now.

Bush I did not cut quite that deeply. Two of those active divisions and a goodly number of reserve forces divisions were cut by "I loathe the Military" Clinton.

Here's a nice little quote I found from The New American Century. Dated September 10, 2001.

In continuing Clinton-era policies, President Bush is retreating from the post-Cold War standards set forth by his father. In 1992, the first Bush administration called for an active force of 1.6 million in 12 Army divisions, 20 Air Force wings, 12 Navy carrier groups, and so on. While Rumsfeld has yet to decide on the final details of the future force, it might well have just 1.3 million men and women on active duty and as few as 8 or 9 Army divisions, 11 to 12 Air Force wings, and 10 carrier groups. At the same time, the promise of conventional-force transformation, global missile defenses protecting America and its allies, and control of space will be deferred until the distant future.

President Bush came to office with an extraordinary opportunity to rebuild and reform the U.S. armed forces and to preserve the peace of the post-Cold War years. If he had made a defense build-up a priority, he would have found plenty of support in Congress. Instead, on his watch, the situation is getting worse. As Rumsfeld himself recently said, "Each year we put off these critical investments, each year we kick the can down the road, we are digging ourselves deeper and deeper in the hole." He continued: "It's like having a credit card. If you pay only the minimum every month, the interest will accumulate and the cost of digging out of debt gets bigger and bigger."