World War II is Over...
Hardly, history has shown the goal of the US military planners, to be able to fight a two front war, a valid time proven one, as we have more than two coasts and even more international interests.
The two front war option is outmoded. We are no longer in the cold war. The military planners are split on the advisability of maintaining 'dual front' readiness. Who are these dual enemies. Nobody will attack either coast. This is not 1942. We have dominant nuclear capability both tactical and strategic. We can deliver nuclear weapons to anywhere from anywhere. We patrol the world's seas. We have the most sophisticated Air Force in the world.
Our inventories of munitions are below the danger threshold to the point our Men & Women in uniform(even front line infantry) are often allowed less training ammunition than the average US police officer.
How can this be after 6 years of Republican domination of the House and recent hold over the Senate? Some of the munitions that are in dispute were so old they may not even function anymore. The keys to future global wars (if there are any), will not be how many bullets you have. Once again, this is old line thinking. The new weapons coming on stream (which Governor Bush supports) might not even use bullets. They will rely on sound, particle beam and other high technology killing and stunning technologies. There may not even be a human soldier firing them. In the recent Balkan conflict, the US conducted the war from thousands of feet above the battlefield. How many US soldiers died in that conflict? We're quickly passing the 'musket' stage here. This complaint strikes me as a canard.
Our inventory of missiles(not just ICBM's) is at a 30 year low, so low in fact that military missions have been changed, substituting troop danger for cruise missiles due to shortage.
Which military mission was changed? Our most recent two wars, the Gulf and the Balkan had surprisingly few casualties. That is because the wars were conducted primarily from the air. What is the current status of cruise missile inventory? ICBM's are being destroyed due to arms control treaties signed by both Republican and Democratic administrations. In fact one of the most important treaties was signed by Ronald Reagan for which he deserves enormous credit.
All parts of the press except the far left mainstream) are ripe with stories about lack of fuel available for training flights(guess it's all fueling Air Force 1,2 & Hillary's flights).
There are fuel shortages worldwide right now. This has far more to do with refinery capacity than anything else. What is the 'far left' mainstream?
This is far to near "collapse" for my taste, we need go no further down this road toward destruction, in fact we need backtrack many miles.
This is the telling statement. It reinforces my statement that these are your 'feelings' at work here. I'll ask you again, who is the superpower that currently threatens us? The threats are much greater from very small terrorist groups and nuclear proliferation to smaller states (North Korea, Pakistan, India, Iraq). The military is going through a difficult transition from one built to fight WWII in two theaters to a more mobile, modern, high technology, information rich fighting force. Our military expenditures should reflect this. We should invest in higher pay and benefits for our personnel, better quality of life for all our armed services, lighter smarter weapons('mobile' 90 ton howitzers are not going to get it anymore), better mobility, better command and control, and better information gathering (intelligence) and processing. It is also very important to keep lines of diplomatic communication open to all sides in an impending conflict. In the end, free world trade and growing global prosperity is the most important defense of all.
World War II is over...we won...
Thanks for your thoughts...
Q |
