US military budget on track to reach
one trillion dollars in a not so distant future. It comprises about 12% of federal spending yet faces very little scrutiny. It's sacrosanct. Has been for decades, although US spending dwarfs that of other nations.
It's overkill.
@Barbramon1 As a veteran (USN) it's easy for me to say for about 30 years that the US can no longer afford to be the World's police. We are having difficulty just taking care of ourselves (plural).
@Barbramon1 Vietnam was supposed to have taught us a lesson. For Desert Storm under Bush Sr it seemed like we had learned it. Then Dubya came along and all was forgotten as IQs suddenly plummeted, a grandiose NeoCon scheme to turn a profit invading Iraq, based on fabricated intel, thank you Dick among others. Plus the long term occupation of Afghanistan, never mind the 9-11 hijackers were Saudis.
@Barbramon1 And Thump by gawd with his Putin adoration, self centered nature, inability to make friends with European allied leaders, and throwing US Intel under the bus, almost got us figuratively ejected from NATO. Maybe we were (under Trump)? 🤔 I can’t imagine Trump today functioning as POTUS during the Ukraine Russian war.
@Huntn00 Not sure if the war would still be going on if trump were in charge. I believe he would have betrayed Ukraine at the outset to gain favor with Putin.
@Huntn00 The misadventure in Iraq cost US about $2 trillion by some estimates. One cannot put a price on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people lost, the loss to humanity of archaeological sites and artifacts of human history.
I can't help but feel a bit emotional when I remember how I and many others tried to prevent it. We were helpless to do so. 😔
@Huntn00 I don't want us to be the world's police. My late brother was a Vietnam vet. We've seen how fighting the wrong wars, whether publicly or secretly, harms our country and others. I feel we should be prepared to defend allies as needed. I strongly believe that we can take care of ourselves and still defend other countries strategically. We have the money to do both, but apparently not the will. Evaluate the budget carefully and reallocate funds. There's enough for both.