If You Could Redirect Military Fund? How Would You & Does My Argument Make Sense? ?
Posted by IT CommentatorOct 3
One of the main concern of the US government is national security, therefore it seems fair to the government to spend billions of dollars in regard of military spending. However, to the rest of the population it is nothing but a burden on the US economy. For example, the United States in funding the war in Iraq because they need to assure the safety of the US population. So why not improve national security strategies and built border fences if they have to. One might argue that this would compromise the United States relation with foreign countries. Besides improving security of the US to avoid threat, the United States could become a more independent country by building their own products instead of relying on foreign counties. The United States could build their own fuel power sources instead of relying on foreign countries for gas & oil. There is a realistic chance in redirecting military fund as I suggested, but there is one problem: it makes too much sense.
~Ruth Joseph~
The US now spends more on military and weapons than the whole rest of the world combined. If we just count up the countries that could conceivably wish to do us harm, we spend 16 times as much as all of them combined.
And yet our military hasn’t been used to repel an actual attack or invasion since 1814. Especially since WWII, we have used our military more than 100 times, and NONE of these were times when some foreign power attacked us or invaded us. They were all to protect America’s commercial interests, for oil or other resources.
During the Cold War, we were told that the Soviet Union had plans to attack Western Europe, marching through the flat plains of Poland. We set up permanent military bases all over Europe in anticipation of this battle. All this time we were told that half of our military budget was to prepare for this possibility. We developed small ‘battlefield’ nuclear weapons because they were seen as more economical (’more bang for the buck’ was the phrase used).
But when the Soviet Union collapsed, and this threat was removed, no politician seriously suggested that we could now cut military spending by half. Any politician who dared suggest that we were spending too much on defense was immediately jumped on by his competition as being ’soft on defense’. So instead politicians, of both parties, tried to outdo each other with proposals for -more- defense spending.
It reached a head with the GW Bush administration. Bush took advice from PNAC, the Project for a New American Century. These guys said that, as the last remaining superpower, we had the right to just run everything. At the very least, they said, we could take over the entire Middle East and run it as an American colony. They believed we could plow through Iraq in a matter of a month or six weeks, and then go on to Syria and Iran.
We use our military budget for lots of things that have nothing to do with defending the US. We use it to pump money into the economy, to provide jobs, to fund scientific and even medical research. There is a good reason why parts for the B2 bomber are made in 49 states–every senator and congressman can brag that he’s bringing home federal money to his district. Defense contractors are not competitive so they can be very inefficient, riddled with waste and fraud. And presidents find it easy to borrow money and spend the nation into debt for weapons systems that they say we need for our protection. And, to be fair, some good things have come out of it–microprocessors, the Internet, satellite communications, etc., but a lot of the money is just wasted.
I think we could easily cut our defense budget in half (or more!) and use that money instead for health care, research, etc. It would be much more efficient, especially if we stopped fighting unnecessary wars. The money we spend on a big war in the Persian Gulf every ten years could be put to MUCH better use in developing alternative energy resources–and we know oil is running out anyway so we’re going to have to do this eventually sooner or later.
The United States should bring all their troops home from all over ther world and start focusing on our own country. If we took the biliions of dollars and used it to rebuild our infrastructure, protect our borders, help the homeless, and provide medical care and more jobs, this would stimulate the economy. Look and China, they are doing this and their economy is one of the strongest in the world.
well, stop producing ammunitions…
redirect the fund to countries that are experiencing famines…
ur argument makes sense, but who will buy it…
reasons….
Because all you are doing is guaranteeing that the next war will be fought in your hometown.
oh honey, if it was only that simple
Make sure people aren’t abusing their gov’t credit cards..
Gov’t contracts are shorter so there’s no reckless spending and contractors don’t overcharge.
Fair contract bidding. Not all com
More money going towards repair and maintenance.
The next president needs to go to the UN and ask the different countries to participate in peace-keeping missions in Iraq and send our soldiers and sailors throughout the world. Way too many resources being sent to Iraq. We can still have presence in Iraq, but should be training and be available as a backup in case skirmishes break out. We don’t need THAT many people there.
If other countries are willing to supplement military, not a lot, but just enough to be there in case insurgents try to take over towns, that will be a lot more effective. Just like how the National Guard is here, that’s how we should be there.
Train soldiers who are going to be stationed there in country traditions and protocol. Pay our soldiers a lot more to be stationed there, and punish them if they try to overstep… we can hand them over to the Iraqi police, we have done that in other countries when a soldier assaulted or killed a civilian.
These should be soldiers that specialize in dealing with people and learning the language, and give them special pay. It’s worth it because it will be a thousand times easier to get intel versus throwing money at the locals and hoping to get good info.