Article

2018-12-06 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Why the U.S. Military Is In Serious Trouble

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by DarthVader 2018-12-06 11:15|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 In sixty-four pages of plain language, the commission paints an extraordinarily troubling picture of the state of U.S. national defenses, calling our present situation a "grave crisis" demanding "extraordinary urgency."

Anything like our grave Climate Crisis and Global Climate Change urgency?

Budget and Appropriation time used to be the fall, now with Congress not engaged in their main job dealing with the purse strings till later and later, the unending call for 'more money, more money, more money' just becomes another chorus at the trough.

I usually don't see in any of these 'studies' the recommendation to seriously cut back on commitments. You don't need as much if you don't cover as much.

The report notes that the United States now faces five rising challenges‐China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and transnational terrorism

To paraphrase Fredrick the Great - he who tries to defend everything, defends nothing.

Make real war. Devastating, ugly, unholy. Your potential adversaries will notice. Make them worried about what you will do.

Posted by Procopius2k 2018-12-06 11:42|| 2018-12-06 11:42|| Front Page Top

#2 Ridiculous scaremongering with the Chinese. This is just a ploy to get more money into the military-industrial complex. Bipartisan support, well now there's a shocker. It's like they're both secretly on the same side!

We outnumber the rest of the world put together and it's still not enough for these people. We have spent SIX TRILLION DOLLARS on wars since 9/11 with fuck-all to show for it, and they want to spend even more.

Posted by Butch Ulilet8032 2018-12-06 11:48|| 2018-12-06 11:48|| Front Page Top

#3 We keep the trade lanes open for the Chinese for free, at no cost to themselves. It's what's enabled them to crush us. China won't dictate our future because we're not dependent on trade. We are the least connected major nation, and most of the trade that we do have is with Mexico and Canada.

If the US Navy pulled its protection from the seas the Chinese would be screwed badly.

Posted by Enver Phineque1966 2018-12-06 11:50|| 2018-12-06 11:50|| Front Page Top

#4 Want to own the oceans? Require every ship coming to a US port with imports be built, owned and crewed by Americans.

Currently, the US Navy is the world's leading provider of welfare for merchant shipping.

Posted by Fat Bob Thud8929 2018-12-06 12:33|| 2018-12-06 12:33|| Front Page Top

#5 I am just glad ‘non-establishment conservatives’ were removed from the threat list.

Posted by Airandee 2018-12-06 13:18|| 2018-12-06 13:18|| Front Page Top

#6 We outnumber the rest of the world put together

Ah, no.

Posted by Woodrow 2018-12-06 18:02|| 2018-12-06 18:02|| Front Page Top

#7 Outnumber in terms of spending, I think, not population.

Posted by trailing wife 2018-12-06 18:32|| 2018-12-06 18:32|| Front Page Top

#8 Let me shorten that 64 pages to a few words: Debt, corruption, duplication, ignorance, carelessness, mismanagement, politics.

Did I miss anything?

Posted by gorb 2018-12-06 18:38|| 2018-12-06 18:38|| Front Page Top

#9 It would seem we could work with regional alliances to keep certain areas safe with minimal US involvement.

Posted by ruprecht 2018-12-06 21:46|| 2018-12-06 21:46|| Front Page Top

22:27 JohnQC
21:51 ruprecht
21:49 ruprecht
21:46 ruprecht
21:15 The peanut gallery
21:02 746
20:41 Solomon Ulavish4305
20:38 Silentbrick
19:34 Deacon Blues
19:15 trailing wife
19:13 lord garth
18:51 CrazyFool
18:38 gorb
18:32 trailing wife
18:02 Woodrow
17:52 Thing From Snowy Mountain
17:47 magpie
17:13 Thing From Snowy Mountain
17:13 SteveS
17:09 Thing From Snowy Mountain
17:00 Herb McCoy
16:59 Iblis
16:57 Iblis
16:55 Bangkok Billy