"Catch up" to who?
Not as much catch up, as not fall behind. And more not fall behind our mission needs, as not fall behind anyone else.
We spend as much as the rest of the world every year.
Actually we don't, for reasons I've explained multiple times. Still we spend far more than anyone else, but war, and preparing for war, and deterring war, are not just about who spends the most money.
Since we spent so much on acquisition in the 80s, and since we downsized the military after that, we could get by with much smaller acquisition budgets (in real terms, and esp. if you adjust for "defense inflation" which is higher then regular inflation). But that will not continue to be the case. It can be put off more, considering the costs of Iraq, the budget situation, and other factors, but not forever. Fortunately operations costs will presumably go down at some point (even if the Democrats don't force a pullout in Iraq, it won't last forever). |
