Defense
Chuck Hagel announced that the new Defense budget will involve actually cutting spending, including reducing the size of the US Army to "the lowest level since before WWII." Daniel Larison, a conservative voice of reason (rare but they do exist) has been on fire on the subject. A few random thoughts:
1) As Larison points out, currently, the US has more people in the active military than any country except China. We also spend more on defense than the rest of the world combined. Now, one can argue that China gets more bang for the buck, but an order of magnitude more? One can also argue that our forces, designed to fight thousands of miles from home, are more expensive than local troops. But this leads to:
2) Larison's next complaint: The Hegemonist’s Lament: “The World Is a Mess and I Just Need To Rule It.” Why exactly is it the US's problem who rules in Syria, or whether the Ukraine falls under Russian control? (Ask yourself this - how many coffins with dead Americans in them are you prepared to receive to change the facts on the ground in those places?)
Now, The Usual Suspects will argue that "if we don't stop bad guy X now, we'll have to fight a lot harder later." This may be true - although those same Usual Suspects tell me that we can't possibly predict global climate - but it's also true that right now Bad Guy X is no threat to the US. Part of the lesson of the 1930s is when Bad Guy X starts to become a threat, we need to respond. The other part of the lesson is over-response can create Bad Guy X.
3) Lastly, an interesting thought on the imminent retirement of the A-10: Leave the A-10, Take the Cannoli.
1) As Larison points out, currently, the US has more people in the active military than any country except China. We also spend more on defense than the rest of the world combined. Now, one can argue that China gets more bang for the buck, but an order of magnitude more? One can also argue that our forces, designed to fight thousands of miles from home, are more expensive than local troops. But this leads to:
2) Larison's next complaint: The Hegemonist’s Lament: “The World Is a Mess and I Just Need To Rule It.” Why exactly is it the US's problem who rules in Syria, or whether the Ukraine falls under Russian control? (Ask yourself this - how many coffins with dead Americans in them are you prepared to receive to change the facts on the ground in those places?)
Now, The Usual Suspects will argue that "if we don't stop bad guy X now, we'll have to fight a lot harder later." This may be true - although those same Usual Suspects tell me that we can't possibly predict global climate - but it's also true that right now Bad Guy X is no threat to the US. Part of the lesson of the 1930s is when Bad Guy X starts to become a threat, we need to respond. The other part of the lesson is over-response can create Bad Guy X.
3) Lastly, an interesting thought on the imminent retirement of the A-10: Leave the A-10, Take the Cannoli.