The WSJ wants more military spending for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. It still moans about Afghanistan. 
The WSJ board takes every opportunity to demand more money for military spending. And that is again the battle cry in Wake Up Washington.
At least 11 Americans were among the hundreds killed in the weekend attack in Israel, which has begun striking back at Hamas. The invasion, planned with an assist from Iran, ought to wake up both parties in Washington. The world is awash in threats that will inevitably wash up on our shore if America doesn’t get its act together.
The President can stop the budget games—the demands that every dollar on U.S. forces be matched with another for solar panels or food stamps—and work with Republicans to rebuild U.S. military power. That package should include aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. It should feature a generational effort to expand U.S. munitions inventories, from 155mm artillery to sophisticated long-range antiship missiles. Ditto for a plan to build more U.S. attack submarines for the Pacific.
Already officials are leaking that the U.S. may struggle to supply both Israel and Ukraine with artillery or other weapons while also deterring China. But America can either meet the moment or regret it later when the world’s rogues attack other allies, or U.S. forces deployed abroad, or even the homeland.
Americans may be among Hamas’s hostages, and the GOP should support Mr. Biden if he sends a military mission to rescue them. The world needs to see that the U.S. can unite in a common security purpose.
Vietnam Era Mentality
This is the exact same mentality that got the US into Vietnam and kept us in Afghanistan for two decades.
The US wasted $2 trillion in Afghanistan and $3 trillion in Iraq. We have nothing to show for it but more enemies.
If the US did not meddle in Ukraine there might not be a war there now. John McCain led the meddling trying to get the Ukraine in NATO.
Going back further, the CIA overthrew a democratically elected government in Iran in 1953 to steal their oil.
And we wonder why they hate us.
How Will We Pay For This?
The hypocrites at the WSJ never say how they will pay for this.
Would you rather have spent trillions of dollars on US infrastructure or blowing it in Afghanistan and Iraq?
That’s the question we should be asking.
The government cannot protect US citizens in every geopolitical hotspot. Nor should it try. Our own border is porous and here we are still lamenting Afghanistan.
The WSJ editorial board is one of the biggest moaners about deficit spending. But when it come to military spending it’s always more, more more.
Would it support tax hikes to pay for this? Of course not.
Trying to be the World’s Policeman
The US cannot afford to be the world’s policeman and even if it could, what do we have to show for it?
The idea that Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, or Hamas poses a direct threat to the US (or ever did) is nonsensical.
Yet, here we go again, demanding more military meddling with no explanation as to how we pay for it.
Here Comes the Big Push for More Money for Ukraine and Israel
Yesterday, I wrote Here Comes the Big Push for More Money for Ukraine and Israel
Expect a Congressional deal: More money for Ukraine; more money for Israel, and more money for a wall. It won’t stop there.
Outer Limits
Senator Lindsay Graham has suggested $60 billion to $70 billion as the amount needed for Ukraine aid through the November 2024 presidential election. He said he sees that estimate as the “outer limits.”
What a hoot.
Where have we heard that kind of talk before?
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asked about outside estimates that the cost of a war in Iraq could reach $300 billion, responded, “Baloney.”
The cost was close to $3 trillion
No One Will Fix This
It’s no surprise that the hypocrites at the Journal want more defense money to slosh around. Indeed it would be shocking if their position was anything else.
Biden requested $24 billion for Ukraine. The gang of 8 who dumped McCarthy and demanded nothing for Ukraine dramatically increased the odds Ukraine gets $60 billion to $100 billion now and even more later.
Anyone who thought 8 people could change the way Congress works was crazy.
“Compromise is always more spending for this in return for more spending on that.”
“Neither party will fix the deficits. Neither party will do anything about mounting debt. No one will do anything about anything because the political system is totally broken.” Mish
For discussion, please see Debt to GDP Alarm Bells Ring, Neither Party Will Solve This
Wake Up WSJ
Bin Laden hated the US because we had US troops on sacred Arab soil. That does not justify 911, but it helps explain it.
The biggest risk of fighting them here is we are constantly meddling over there.
Tell the WSJ Editorial Board, along with Rupert Moloch, to strap on some bayonets and go themselves. Spend their pension on the wars they love.
Can’t get facts straight.
Mish gets our 1953 intervention in Iran wrong. We were deceived into doing it by the British, whose oil company was going to be nationalized. The story they told us was that the new government was friendly to the USSR. Our effort to overthrow Mossadegh failed; it was Iranian powers-that-be who got out of their armchairs and “saved the day”, overthrowing Mossadegh after we failed.
One instance. Another instance is that we probably did not cause the overthrow of Ukraine’s government in 2014. We did have a hand in managing things after Yanukovich fled.
Defense spending and foreign policy aims are closely related. We could spend a lot less if we gave up several notions of what the world should look like and be. We could and perhaps should withdraw from NATO. It is time for Europe to defend themselves. If they do not and wind up as Russian vassals, too bad for them. – On the particular topic, the easiest way to end these Mid East conflicts is for Israel to be obliterated. What follows is watching millions of Israel Jews get killed, or acting to resettle them someplace else. Cheaper than military action.
Worth adding that spending less on military will not save us from the Democrat promoted social spending bankruptcy we are headed towards.
dumbest thing Ike’s admin did. like tyson said, everyone has a plan until punched in the face. even the great and illustrious president of columbia university, IKE. he was over his skis as president of pax dumbfuckistan.
After every one of these military interventions, we fail and end up bringing half the “liberated” country back here as refugees. And they are often pissed off. If you look at the experience of the US and the Europeans, most of the terrorists are those that were born and/or raised in their adopted country, not those that sneak in. You can’t vet someone who is very young or not yet born.
Our bloated military invites its use ) “What good is this fantastic military if we don’t use it once in a while?”).
And its use sets up the conditions that encourage its use once again.
the us military bombed 40 million homes of innocents from libya to iraq………40 million. only since 9.11. if someone bombed your home, you’ll be pissed for at least 2 generations. maybe 3 or 4.
So who is canceling their WSJ subscriptions in protest?
it has been garbage paper since murdoch. it was always the war street journal but now it’s that plus garbage. it’s a gossip rag.
@TT,
His true name is Rupert Moloch.
The more you feed Moloch, the more you HAVE TO FEED moloch in the future!
–luvs, Rupert.
– The invasion, planned with an assist from Iran, ought to wake up both parties in Washington.
You mean an invasion, like 5 Million (roughly) Foreigners Crossing Illegally into Our Country? Like THAT sort of in a invasion? I dare say the invasion has already occurred, but we haven’t seen the Actual Results yet of our errant ways…
– The President can stop the budget games.
The President is a Fool!
– The world needs to see that the U.S. can unite.
The U.S. is in shambles, and not even close to being united. We are about as divided as a Nation can possibly get (50/50) right about now. The World needs to see a New Leader in the Whitehouse. The World needs to see a New Military Attitude from the U.S. The World needs to see a New Energy Approach from Our Leaders.
What the World Doesn’t Need To See is MORE OF THE SAME!!!
Mahomes for President. He played for Whitehouse, Texas in high school. That’s a sign.
I believe it is high time for the US to make some bold moves now.
Taking sides in the Middle East conflict has had nothing but misery and misfortune for us and frankly for Israel as well. The only reason Israel is able to continue the occupation and brutal blockade of over five million people for decades is because our government has given their government a blank check to do it. Frankly, we are almost assisting the Israeli government to commit long term suicide by enabling their tactics and behavior.
I want to distinguish between the government of Israel and it’s citizenry. The US needs to make it clear that we don’t support one people over other and that we will aggressively help bring war crime charges against all parties as they commit it. We should also stop funding and supporting any nation state and their army. Israel is the de facto supreme actor militarily in the ME. No other military force is even close to it.
Once we have made our stance clear, I fully expect the Israeli government to have a deep introspection and come to terms with reality that they need to negotiate a fair and long term political settlement. To be clear, we are absolutely not helping the people of Israel by unilaterally supporting the government of Israel.
There is no military solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Once we stop interfering, I guarantee that a political solution will be negotiated. We just want to make sure that we support war crimes to be brought expeditiously for all actors as they commit the atrocities.
I really believe that public opinion is changing in our country against giving a blank check to the government of Israel and that is a good thing for both us and the people of ME.
I really believe you to be wrong.
The proper solution for Israel is to forcibly evict the Palestinians from all Israel land, including Gaza and the West bank. Force them to relocate to surrounding countries. Then resettle Gaza and the West Bank with Israeli’s.
so they will just do the same thing from jordan. you cannot be that dumb, can you?
israel is going down with amerikan empire crumbling. if they don’t do right by palestine and the world, they will be over run. we are going broke, so the time is ticking for israel to realize they are the bitch of pax amerika. we don’t give a hoot about them. nobody does.
Democracy works for first 2500 years. Assholes elect assholes to do asshole policies. Democracy works. Amerikans are assholes.
2500 years of democracy! We got some time ahead of us.
The only war worth fighting in modern America is the war of the US government on the American people. They are the ones who gin up all the wedge issues to get the American populous at each other’s throats. It’s a simple divide a rule policy. Joe Biden is even to dim witted to hide it.
machievelli 101. yes. easy to divide and conquer the middlebrows. always has been.
How many of “them” are already over here and in other Western countries judging by the film of Muslims marching and celebrating butchering hundreds of civilians in Israel….and the American academic community that backs them?
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s a lot more than it was when Trump was in charge.
we should use armbands to identify the muslims. then we can do it to the jews………call it homecoming weekend and have some fun with it…………….you nitwits are really both dumb and scary.
Two quotes are worth including here.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
H L Menchken
“Why, of course, the people don’t want war,” Goering shrugged. “Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.”
Herman Goering
i read the goering quote at least twice per year for past 40 years. it’s the best. he was also a stud flying ace, and quite the ladies man, too. a wonderful book, in the garden of the beast is worth the time.
Almost a trillion dollars per year and we don’t have enough munitions? What the hell is that? For that money, we should have planes and bombs coming out of our ears.
We do have bombs and planes coming out our ears but they thought artillery wasn’t needed because we have bombs and planes coming out our ears and they are better than artillery except in a war where we are not in it directly. Soon we will have artillery and shells coming out our ears.
Cost have risen everywhere! [lol]
God forbid the US stand up for peace instead of endless wars.
The Hamas situation is the result of Israel’s intransigence with regards to a Palestinian State. Of course some of this is due to hard liners on both sides. However, some Israeli’s have used this to expand into Palestinian lands with settlements. Naive Americans who watch lopsided treatment on the boobtube, have no idea what’s happening. Rick Steve’s actually woke up to it a few years back.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/04/ive-been-duped-americas-travel-guide-rick-steves-says-our-media-black-out-the-brutal-occupation/
No, it’s the result of Hamas, a terrorist organization, buoyed by Iranian money, senselessly attacking Israel.
So they killed some Jews.
MANY MORE Palestinians are going to suffer worse. Many more than the number of Israelis killed will ultimately lose their lives.
Men, woman and children are going to be killed or crippled for life, forced to live in a tent in a refugee camp, begging for handouts. They will have lost the roof over their head, lost their car, lost any savings they may have had hidden under a mattress that is now buried under a demolished building, lost any future they may have had. No matter how bleak their lives were before, their lot will be worse going forward.
Palestinian’s will never be given their own state built on Israel declared lands. This is reality. Whine, stamp your feet, throw temper tantrums, kill a few Israeli’s here and there. It ain’t going to happen.
Syria needs new population, they can move there. Or to Saudi Arabia. Plenty of empty land there. Or integrate into Jordon, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas need to band together, round up Hamas members and hand them over to Israel. This is their only hope to save their sorry lives.
see: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/repealing-certain-legislation-relating-reserves-deposits-federal-reserve-banks-283
The U.S. has had a net liquidity deficit in every year since 1950 (with the exception of 1957), Up to 1976 (when the private sector contributed its first trade deficit) these deficits were entirely the consequence of excessive U.S. government unilateral transfers to foreigners (re: foreign policy – solely our far-flung military bases and personnel).
During all this time the private sector was running a surplus in all accounts: merchandise, services and financial. The Vietnam Ten-year War administered the coup d’etat to our gold bullion standard. By 1968, in an effort to keep the dollar at the $35 par, we had exhausted nearly two thirds of our monetary gold stocks, or approximately 700 million ounces to about 260 million ounces.
Although the dollar ceased to be freely convertible in March, 1968, institutional (central bank practices) and attitudinal lags were sufficient to offset, until late 1970, the excessive expansion in the supply of dollars. In August 1971, all convertibility was ended.
The gold cover requirement was removed in March of 1968 because of the Pentagon’s communist containment policy.
Mish, no offense meant, but the POINT of the Military Spending is the SPENDING ITSELF, and it is NOT about “DEFENSE” even though it is all shrouded in that language. THE SPENDING goes this way:
1. FIND A NEW REASON to “wage a war.” It matters not WHAT the narratives tell us (NEWS CYCLE, all in cahoots with the MACHINE).
2. PROCLAIM how atrocious “this one is compared to all others.” DEATHS of a few Americans sprinkled in with local deaths and NONE of that matters as they proclaim deaths ON THE GROUND as “collateral deaths” – – RIGHT?
3. LOBBYISTS call for meeting with Key Politicians (name ’em)…”THE LEADERSHIP.”
4. NEWS CYCLE then is REVVED UP to convince US to rattle on with each other (here as well as on Twitter, at cocktail parties, etc.)….the NARRATIVES are HONED.
5. Then, after the leadership thinks that the NEWS CYCLE, the initial one, has gotten well rooted, they begin to “DEBATE” how much.
THEN THEY SPEND. AND, that money is U-TURNED into the hands of the few (Congress, Pres, Hunter, Clintons, Bushes, Johnson’s, etc.).
DONE!
DJ – Please add Nicki Haley to those that make their money off of war. She had a negligible net worth when she became UN ambassador. Now has multi- millions.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavyagupta/2023/08/08/how-nikki-haley-built-an-8-million-fortune-and-helped-bail-out-her-parents/?sh=50bc8eaf7b4c
It’s a racket!
Thank god she has no chance of winning. Next to Hillary, she’s the one most likely to start WW3.
Nikki Haley is the worst of the war mongers. It’s disgusting to see her rise in the polls.
I almost gagged when I heard her say “America needs Israel!” What she should have said is “I need the Israeli Lobby to feather my nest.”
sbf crypto money laundering scheme from uke money to congress…….
We never learn. We just keep plowing money and lives into useless battles trying to make the world conform to our view. This isn’t realistic and creates more enemies.
I think that this mindset is from arrogance. We seem to have belief that we and our superior technologies have obtained God like powers and that the world will submit to our will.
I think the term used these days is ‘American Exceptionalism’. Used in conjunction with ‘American Hegemony’ and ‘world reserve currency’.
correct. my pals whose great great grandpappies lost a civil war and millions of acres, the ruling class of charleston SC, my home for a long tim, told me, arrogance and ignorance are 2 things that are deadly together. what their ancestors had in spades. those poor bastards were reduced to just a mansion or 2 downtown and a few hundred or thousand acres in the country………
When the WSJ Editorial Board proudly announces their children or grandchildren of military age have enlisted in the military to fight “them” over there wake me up.
Until they put their bloodlines at risk it’s obviously not that important.
those psychopaths would sacrifice their mothers for a shekel. don’t kid yourself that they wouldn’t and don’t brainwash their own children to do anything…….
How can we outspend the next ten largest militaries in the world, year after year, and still not be spending enough on the defense?
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-top-10-countries-by-military-spending/
We have 750 US bases in 80 countries. That is more than the next ten countries combined. That’s how!
The solutions is to de-escalate and intervene only when we have a strategic interest involved. We should clearly articulate what is that strategic geopolitical interest.
To be clear, the US has no overarching geopolitical interest in giving Israel a blank check. We should be neutral in that conflict. In the long run, that will be best for the people of Israel as it will force them to negotiate a long lasting political solution. This will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Israeli government but it is absolutely necessary for a long lasting peace in the ME.
Before WWII the US had the 17th ranked military in the world, one below Argentina.
Small army but a very large navy that ranked on par with the Royal Navy.
More importantly, the US foreign policy was the correct one.
It was to essentially to not get involved in conflicts and disputes outside North America. In both world wars the US made lots of money supplying both sides until it was dragged into both wars.
Given the size our debt we should consider going back to that policy.
Yes. We should have let the Nazis take over Europe. Nazis make great neighbors.
Their are no current threats to world peace like the Germans and Japanese. You can believe that Putin is trying to take over the world all you want, but it doesn’t make it remotely true.
mussolini and hitler had both great economic miracles in their countries. the unpleasantness of the little dictator, was odious, and idiots are still frightened of him. take a chill pill dougy. you are obviously scared old man. 3rd base life will do that to feeble minds. unplug your idiot box perhaps. you are like a baby seal begging to be clubbed by the MIC and banker boys……..and assorted war mongering profiteers………….
I agree with Mish. They always want more militarism and they never accept responsibility for the bad consequences.
Great article Mish, and I agree with your opinions.
Hi Mish.
Wake me up when the USS Gerald Ford docks at Chicago Navy Pier on the weekends.
Like George Washington, IDGAF about them over there, but the bought-and-paid-for one-nation-under-blackmail U.S. federal government does – big time!
Mike, when is the last time the Mongol hordes rampaged through your community, raped your wife, murdered your children, burned your home, and castrated you? Yes, Virginia, there is virtue in fighting the enemies in their own lands. War is not like playing a hard game of poker or tiddly winks.
Obviously the answer is never. The reason is because there is an ocean between us and the hordes and that’s unlikely to ever change. The best defense Britain ever had was being an island.
If you don’t go somewhere your not wanted and take sides then you don’t make enemies.
In 2019, 234 million people flew to and from the United States so having wide oceans does not keep out hordes Mongol or otherwise. Maybe we should have an Airforce?
Millions of visitors, not invaders.
You could never invade the US by bring a plane load of 200 people at a time. They’d either be dead or rounded up and sent back the instant they landed.
the nazi subs were off the coasts by the hundreds. but alas that was existential. this stuff in 21st century is self inflicted. hell, even the 9.11 report, the CIA classified it as blowback. because it was. bases in mideast made bin laden retaliate. pro tip, don’t have military bases worldwide if you don’t want blow back.
Being an island helped but Great Britian also built up alliances and used money as a weapon to leverage their natural advantage as an island. It worked very well for centuries.
At the time Great Britain wasn’t staffed fully by simpletons! And in the end they fell as well.They invaded and then invited the world, the England you knew is every bit as dead as Joe Biden’s pecker.
Read the newspapers and pamphlets at the time. They are full of writers calling their leaders simpletons and usually much worse.
It didn’t stop millions of Europeans invading north America in 1492 and it’s still ongoing.
You agree that wide oceans help but are not a panacea.
Just to be clear, millions did not come here in 1492. A hundred or so came.
By the time of the American revolution there were only 2.5 million colonists and that was ~300 years later or roughly 8300 people a year (and in reality it was FAR less than that since a large number would have been born here and not arrived by ship).
Don’t forget the Quebecois. From a population of about 25,000 when the English took over they ballooned to something like 5 million today.
the spanish and portuguese and dutch were much more prolific in populating…….their colonies around the globe including north and south amerika. i live in new amsterdam and worked on an archaelogical dig of a dutch ship in lower manhattan many decades ago. it was about 400 years old.
So, we need to spend a trillion on defense every year to protect against marauders while at the same time letting them walk across our southern border uncontested.
You want to stop people coming across the southern border, it starts with asking questions and making their quality of life better.
What are the problems down there?
1. Narco-terrorism – why does it exist? Because Americans have an insatiable appetite for drugs.
2. Unstable governments – why does it exist? Because US intel agencies are constantly trying to overthrow governments they don’t like: Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. The list is pretty endless.
3. Insatiable appetite for labor – Republicans love cheap unregulated labor they can pay under the table and Democrats love would be new voters. It’s a win-win for both political parties and a big lose for you.
I could go on but you need to stop your whining and start asking questions about why it’s happening in the first place and what steps need to be taken to stop it. Starting with #1, #2, and #3 above would help.
Building walls and sending the bill to Mexico isn’t going to work. The Great Wall of China didn’t stop invaders so why will this one stop any? Heck it’ll be cheaper to send everyone down there a check for $10,000 than spending billions on border patrol, walls, and all the other “solutions” people have for this issue.
Or we could just build a wall that’s very hard to get over or under. Seems a lot easier.
Eventually, the smugglers will just use low flying drones to carry people over the river, the wall and drop them off wherever they want. That’s far more likely with or without a wall.
so they’ll come by boat. and any tunnel is easy or a ladder high enough. on planet earth, very few border walls have ever worked. not many even around. a few short miles. ask yourself why.
Or shoot them at the border.
The solution is to eliminate national borders and have one world government.
And reduce world population by about 7 billion.
“I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.” That says it all.
I don’t know about you, but the government makes me feel poor and broke. The government is like a no limit credit card, I’m responsible for, but have no say in the transactions.
What is so horrible about being for term limits, a border wall, infrastructure spending, and isolationism?
Absolutely nothing…
The WSJ had a good article on how Israel spent billions on sophisticated systems for a mass scale attack but overlooked simple things like bulldozers, motorcycles and a low tech approach. It’s not that different from 9/11 in being creative and using hijacked planes to do an attack.
Israel is preparing for war and I wonder if Hamas doesn’t already have a ton of cheap drones setup (from Iran) to drop bombs on tanks and personnel as they go into Gaza.
And this is why I keep bringing up demographics. Ultimately, it is a numbers game. Israel is surrounded by 450 million Muslims while having a population of under 10 million. Israel can have all the high tech weapons it wants but from a demographics point of view, it doesn’t look good for the country over the long term.
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-military-preparedness-gaza-west-bank-ad1a6313
Generals (and countries) are always fighting the last war.
The Ukrainian conflict has proved that drones are the most effective way to wage war now in terms of cost vs capabilities. They are only going to get more effective going forward.
Ultimately, systems will be developed to neutralize drone bombs. They are too slow moving and must be of sufficient size to carry a reasonal explosive charge.
However drones observers being tightly integrated with artillery seems highly effective as the Ukraine war is demonstrating. These can be made small and more difficult to detect.
And more effective ways to shoot them down will be developed, such as laser or microwave weapons.
Pretty sure the Germans were greatly outnumbered at the start of WW2.
And how did it work out for the Germans back then and how is it working out now? You keep up to date with the demographics of Germany?
The Germans showed that the size of the army doesn’t matter much when you have vastly superior tactics, soldiers, and equipment. You can look at the Zulus fighting the British for another example.
You speak in terms of short term gains not long term ones. The British have been kicked out of almost every country they invaded and are now being inundated with immigrants, so much so that they voted for Brexit and it hasn’t changed a thing except turned the UK into an “emerging market.”
In the Americas, there are 750 million “latinos” south of the border and 330 million americans, 80 million of which are over the age of 65 and the rest are aging very fast and not reproducing much. Do the math and tell me where you think things will be in 100 years and try to be intellectually honest with yourself, I already know the answer.
And how well is all that “superior” technology/knowledge/skills working out? Sheesh, people riding horses and using primitive rifles in Afghanistan shows that technology isn’t the end all be all. Buy hey, at least you have a cool Tesla….
A wise man once said, “the meek shall inherit the earth” and I didn’t understand it back then but I understand it now.
ti’s worse than that. there are over 5 billion humans who are christians, muslims and non believers(this is now 1.5 billion) inhabiting the same place that the jews who number a few little millions. for eternity human primates will slaughter and blame and pogrom and burn and more………the other human primates that look, and talk, and worship differently. anthropology 101. i’m surrounded by hasidic jews in brooklyn. they are the only ones i know that get this very basic concept, so they are breeding like rabbits………..i tell them to recruit. the lubovitch sect does. the others not so much. those poor bastards. a screwed up cult who worship the same god as the christians and muslims. the irony is astouding.
The Vietnam ‘Pentagon Papers…
https://www.archives.gov/research/pentagon-papers
Read them and weep.
“War is the life blood of the state” someone said. I found it interesting that Iraq fully supports Hamas. That was a three trillion-dollar investment that didn’t work out. We didn’t even buy a reliable puppet, however, a lot of contractors, Generals and pols got rich. Bob Dylan aptly called them the “masters of war” and the song ended appropriately.
Ask any Iraqi, they were better off under Sadam. We turned that country into unsafe sectartian shole. Every time I see a wounded warrior commercial it makes me despise Coke head Bush jr. even more. A war criminal.
Saddam tried to assassinate W’s father. The war was personal. Every tin pot dictator in the middle east knows what would happen if he tried the same trick with a Texan.
Too bad he missed. F### George Bush and the horse he rode in on.
I am skeptical of that claim. Did you believe the WMD story too. Neverthelss it doesn’t justify what we did. However that being said the propaganda bureau always lets the complicit lap dog media feed on the story of their choice to justify its killing and destruction.
Did the same to Libya and Syria. Obama should be locked up in jail along with Hitlery.
i read project for the new amerikan century in 90s, so when 9.11 occurred, that afternoon i knew it was christmas day for the bush crime family. those twats wrote the plan. a new pearl harbor and a new enemy needed now that USSR was gone. and saddam was the best boogie man to invade and take his oil. of course majority of amerikans never even bothered to read the PNAC, or what bin laden wrote about.
Don’t we already spend more on defense than the rest of the world combined?
And what do we have to show for it?
Retreats and destruction. Leaving behind billions in arms that can be used against our allies.
Maybe we should reduce spending forcing the military to be smarter with what they get.
“America should not go about the world looking for monsters to slay.” John Q. Adams
We should wait for the monsters to come here after they have eaten everybody else I suppose?
How is spending on defense going to prevent a bunch of hamas operatives from crossing our southern border?
So you want no defense except guards on the border?
Who else does? Does the Mexican Army become involved in over seas wars? Or Brazil, or Peru, or Indonesia, etc? It wasn’t Putin who overthrew Yanukovich. Just what was McCain doing in Maidan Square, which was none of his business?
Obviously we need some defense spending, but if the objective is to defend our country, it makes a lot more sense to spend money on defending our country instead of supplying offensive weapons to others.
You are an asshole
Doug, This may surprise you, but there are no such things as monsters. The vilification of others is just a trick the rulers use to get the rubes to sacrifice themselves for some trumped up cause. I think you should sign up and go over there. Perhaps you can win the Darwin Award.
Some people don’t believe in monsters until they run into some and then complain why some else didn’t do something about them. If you are one of them then you are lucky, but only lucky.
As for the last line, you do not know anything about me so you cannot say that. You are guessing. Additionally, I notice that you did not do what I asked about coming up with some numbers. You didn’t because you probably don’t have enough knowledge of the areas to go into it in detail and I don’t blame you. Most people don’t.
My guess is you work in the defense industry. That or the CIA/State Department.
the asshole epithet was for you Doug. not the others. you are stupid too. we need a block feature on mish blog so not to waste time with very dumb assholes.
Doug, yes there is evil in the world. But, just look at the US record the past 20 years. Perhaps our government is the evil one.
As one who lost family members to Der Führer “before WWII even started, what do you do…wait until the tanks are rolling down your street? That doesn’t mean go out looking for trouble but waiting until all smaller countries are invaded and that cannot stand up to a large totalitarian power is nuts. If we hadn’t helped the UK under the table before Pearl Harbor we wou all be living “The Man In The High Castle”.
How many monsters did we create by meddling in the rest of the world’s business?
Yes. If you wait your dead.
The Founders are turning over in their graves now. “America should not go about the word looking for monsters to slay.” John Q. Adams
And somehow presidential historians don’t like Q Adam’s. They prefer warmongering authoritarian racists like Woodrow Wilson. Go figure.
Now that you have expressed your noble sentiments let’s talk money. How much should we spend on defense and how do you see it structured? Do we need an Army, Navy or Airforce and if so what kind? No cop outs by giving vague generalities and hand on heart proclamations on the evils of this or that. Give us your numbers and then we can discuss.
We could easily cut our defense budget by 50% across the board. Use some of the savings on securing our border. We would be much safer.
What to cut? Securing our borders would cost only a few billion. Across the board is a vague term. What would you specifically cut?
For a start, bring home military from countries that can defend themselves, think of the European countries. Mothball carrier groups. Delay air force replacements. Stop buying armored vehicles for a while. Send half of the land force staff home. Etcetera, the list goes on and on, until you’re at half the budget. Then let the military strategists finetune the numbers – who knows the navy and its air wing give more bang for the buck than the other military branches.
But hey Doug… My feeling is that you’re asking this question only hoping for a conclusion that sounds like “Oh noos, we cannot cut spending… we have to spend more!” … Am I right?
We don’t need 5500 main battle tanks. Tank warfare is way outdated and we could never in a million years ship 5000 tanks across sea to fight anywhere anyway.
We also have 5200 military aircraft. That can probably be cut half (Russia has 3800 and China has 2000) given ours are technically superior or so we claim.
As mentioned elsewhere, close most of the bases in countries that don’t need them (think Europe) and bring the troops home. They can then be stationed at the southern border to stop illegals. That’s a big win-win on costs and illegals.
Probably countless other things can be cut down too.
Foreign military bases. All of them.
What countries have military bases here? None.
We would never allow such a thing.
Military spending should be about increasing our defenses and safety here.
This will be difficult to do,because we are the defense suppliers to the world. Massive lobbying and other forms of bribery maintain that behavior.
But at some point we will have to spend less on defense.
Keep part of our nuclear deterrent such as bombers, ICBMs and Submarine launched missiles.
Restore nuclear arms control measures.
Keep spy satellites and recon aircraft.
Scrap all aircraft carriers as these are the number one instrument of our futile military interventions.
I would keep the Special Forces.
Withdraw from every mutual defense treaty we are currently a member of. Such treaties do not prevent war but they do expand wars once they start. Arguably, they encourage belligerence on the part of the smaller powers that drag the larger powers into wars such as the Pelopponesian War and WW1.
Basically, we should be spending about what our largest adversary is spending not what the next 7 largest militaries are spending.
I would like to see an itemized, detailed list in hierarchical format that shows where the annual defense budget goes to. Does such a think exist in a readable format?
Only with something like this at hand can we have an honest discussion as to what might be candidates for cutting.
And then there is this BS. These vendors should be called to the carpet and banned from further sales to the government.
——
The Pentagon’s $52,000 trash can
With military spending at record highs, many contractors have hiked the cost of relatively simple items. (Video)
JUNE 20, 2023
Connor Echols
Leading military contractors jacked up the price of several everyday products after receiving non-competitive contracts, costing taxpayers more than $1.3 million in apparently unnecessary markups, according to Pentagon contracting data acquired by Responsible Statecraft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA76L8oX39s&t=10s
Until 2010, Boeing charged an average of $300 for a trash container used in the E-3 Sentry, a surveillance and radar plane based on the 707 civilian airliner. When the 707 fell out of use in the United States, the trash can was no longer a “commercial” item, meaning that Boeing was not obligated to keep its price at previous levels, according to a weapons industry source who spoke to RS.
In 2020, the Pentagon paid Boeing over $200,000 for four of the trash cans, translating to roughly $51,606 per unit. In a 2021 contract, the company charged $36,640 each for 11 trash containers, resulting in a total cost of more than $400,000. The apparent overcharge cost taxpayers an extra $600,000 between the two contracts.
In another case, Lockheed Martin hiked the price of an electrical conduit for the P-3 plane as much as 14 fold, costing the Pentagon an additional $133,000 between 2008 and 2015.
…
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/06/20/the-pentagons-52000-trash-can/
The question we should be asking is what do we want to keep? My short answer would be “not much”
General Milley’s paycheck would be a start. Half the CIA, State Deparment and White House staff would help even more
As an ex-aerospace worker, I can tell you they could cut the budget and staffing by 50% in the MiC and actually have productivity go up. There is so much dead wood and endless stupid meetings.
That’s in production. I am talking about how many ships, planes and people do we need and to do that we have to define what you want them to do. What would you want them to do specifically?
We should we cut? Should it be cyber or can we cut that by 50%?
Start by getting rid of offensive capability: Carrier groups, foreign bases… That’s most of the money right there. Protecting the US, isn’t where the money is going. As in: The big money does in no way go towards the defence budget. But instead towards the offence budget.
Far and away the cheapest would be to shut the whole mess down altogether, and leave defense to properly armed citizen militias. Worked like a charm back when the US was civilised. And still seems to work just as well, judging by the record established by the current Global Buttkickers of Last Resort: The Afghan Mujahideen.
But even for the seeming majorities who have been properly indoctrinated in the ways of petty rah-rah for rah-rah’s sake: At the very least get rid of the offence budget. Defence isn’t all that expensive, when you’re simultaneously 1)halfway around the world from anywhere, and 2)large/diverse enough to be fundamentally self reliant.
The 21st century reality is somewhere in between. I don’t think we should turn our backs on Ukraine, Israel or Taiwan. But, that doesn’t mean we’re handing out blank checks. And, that doesn’t mean we let other nations skirt their responsibility.
The best way to solve wars is to tell any country, if you invade another country, then the WHOLE world has a responsibility to respond and crush you.
Unless you get to that state, then there will ALWAYS be wars. And, I agree that the UniParty is a much on idiots who think we can fund military adventures ad nauseum.
It’s ridiculous and shows how broken this country is in terms of common sense / sanity.
Totally agree to this. If you cross the line, you are done. Guaranteed to be out of power. No negotiations, no hearings, no meetings.
What about countries that sponsor terrorism in another country. They aren’t technically invading, but are causing military like damage.
Do you think we were right in invading Afghanistan?
This won’t happen until the UN is given the power to be a forceful world police force.
can we HOPE FOR LONG DRAWN OUT election for speaker
say until 2024