Posted on 11/16/2018 6:57:07 AM PST by SleeperCatcher
Threats rising: Earlier this week, a bipartisan committee appointed by Congress released a report that should chill all Americans to the bone.
The National Defense Strategy Commission, an independent entity whose board is appointed by the House and Senate Armed Services committees, concluded in a 116-page report that the United States military superiority advantages have so eroded over the past decade that its very possible and, in some scenarios even likely, America could lose a war to a major power competitor like Russia or China.
Thats largely because the U.S. military has focused on fighting small, brush-fire wars like those in Iraq, Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, Syria and Libya, for nearly 20 years.
Meanwhile, as the American military was distracted by insurgencies, the Russian and Chinese militaries were rebuilding, modernizing, and focusing squarely on modern, large-scale warfare. And both countries militaries have made substantial progress in developing and fielding conventional, electronic, cyber, and nuclear forces that are either on par with American capabilities or very close.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenationalsentinel.com ...
Don’t worry they are Democrats and the military budget belongs to them now, so slash and burn will rule the day. Elections have consequences.
Most of those years the GOP had the purse strings. All this blame on Obama has gotten old. He had a teammate in the GOP.
They won’t give a rats rear end to our military - saw that over the previous abomination administration
The GOP funded many things but Obama transferred and misappropriated to his pet projects, his own priorities.
Thus, hundreds of billions were misappropriated for Obamacare.
Military and NASA funding were directed to Muslim outreach, to LBGQT+ sensitivity training, etc.
Obama decimated the military not by defunding but by directing where the funds would be applied.
Was the GOP complicit? No. But they were culpable because they let him get away with it because they were intimidated and unassertive. They did the right thing by funding but did nothing as the funds were misapplied. They could have impeached Obama for his ‘misdirection’ which amounts to embezzlement of hundreds of billions from Treasury to the PPACA ‘Obamacare’. Geitner did his bidding and then promptly resigned. To this day no one has been held to account.
No doubt-
but 800 bases? That’s an empire.
Some bases are tiny or unpopulated.
When planning, the DOD has to think of the worst scenarios and what would be required. There is no time to be dickering with land titles in extreme situations and there is a 3rd Amendment to consider.
800 bases
1000 bases
5000 bases
Doesn’t matter. What matters is preparation.
Preparation is one thing. An Empire at the cost of trillions is something we do not need nor can afford. We don’t need all that just to kill bad guys who might attack us.
So how many bases would you recommend to the DOD that they should have?
As many as we can afford after taking GOOD care of the people who have already served, shoring up SSI and other earned benefits due to people who have paid into them in good faith, and investing in the infrastructure to be internationally competitive and lowering all tax rates to a much more reasonable amount.
Anything beyond securing the borders, having the intelligence and ability to take out terrorists, and fight one war is just neocon wanking for Empire. I care a hell of a lot more about my disabled best friend who is a Vietnam vet than I do about who runs Afghanistan.
I am not willing to pay one cent or spill one drop of American blood to effect ‘regime change’ or pay for the defense of a country like South Korea, Germany or Japan that can damned well do it themselves.
Then entire population of Asia or Africa or the Middle East (exception Israel) is not worth the blood of one American PFC.
> “As many as we can afford ...”
How many can be afforded?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.