Military spending in the United States is predictable only in its enormity. Annually, the Pentagon’s budget is the largest in the history of humankind, and just as predictably, by the end of the year Pentagon leaders are denouncing the budget as woefully insufficient.
The trend is always toward a bigger military, with a more ambitious set of policies. The Institute for Policy Studies, however, has released a new report urging the opposite approach.
The report calls for a reduction of the Army and Marines by 20 percent, and said the military’s activity should “become more focused and their goals more discrete, determinate, and realistic.”
It defends the call for cuts “as a matter of long-term national security” given the nation’s current economic troubles. The Pentagon has warned that spending cuts are impossible because of the assorted wars it is currently fighting.
It is these wars, of course, which are at the core of the matter, and the escalation of the number and intensity of those wars which is behind the endless calls for more money. The goals and the size of the military go hand in hand, but indications are that the Panetta-led Pentagon will follow the long tradition of US military leaderships that always see more wars to fight, and more money to spend.
At the time of the last Presidential election the Progressives mostly believed that Obama was going to be the mechanism to accomplish the ending of ALL the illegal wars and the reduction in size and financial burden of the military juggernaut. I can only imagine what was said (and is still being said) behind closed doors to him by the military (Industrial Complex). It is painfully obvious that Obama has sold is soul and credibility to the warmongers. And looking at the field of contenders for the position – and those who might be candidates from any party – there are NONE that advocate a move toward peace. Even the so-called Christians and allied and advocate a more belligerent foreign policy. Fools.
We cannot continue to piss money down the toilet trying to force 3rd/4th world countries into our model of government. They are not the same, they don't have the same groundwork upon which to build such a model, and I'm not sure our model as it exists today is a good role model to begin with.
The M.I.C is going to drive America right into the ground. It bears an eerie similarity to what happened to the USSR.