I try to stay away from issues the Main Stream Media is covering in depth—okay, in depth from the extreme left perspective. However, I can’t ignore the just announced enormous cut in the defense budget. There have been a few, well, untruths and omissions in all the commentary I’ve heard. Here are a few:
They say that our new, revised strategy is that we no longer have a simultaneous two-war strategy. I hate to tell you, but since Clinton finished his cuts we lost that ability—almost 20 years ago. Observe that we could not simultaneously fight in both Iraq and Afghanistan; the best we could do was war in Iraq and having a presence and a few special ops actions in Afghanistan. Even then our military was stretched beyond what it has ever been in history.
The Pres says that we now have a strategy to stay technologically ahead of our competitors. Folks, that was the Clinton plan—and we did a pretty good job of it. Then Obama began eliminating advance Development and Research programs because we couldn’t afford those things while we were at war. Either the Prez’s new plan is a total lie, or the implementation is so secret that I have no hint of it. Do you think our enemies have missed these facts?
As for our Marines, we are going to return them to their “Across the Beach Mission”, so we need fewer of them. And because the Marines will no longer be used as a ground force, we will cut another 90,000 Army troops? Somehow, this logic has escaped me. A friend pointed out that if you took the entire Army and put them in one place you would have fewer soldiers than we used in the first Gulf War.
They say we can’t afford to pay the troops, given our horrible budget situation. True, our military is very well paid—because we’re an all-voluntary force. We could lower the pay if we reinstituted the draft—and let all Americans be eligible to defend their nation. No talk of that at the moment.
Finally, no one wants to mention that we’re at war. The attack on an embassy or on a warship is an act of war. Radical Islam has been attacking us, declaring war, for decades. Think 9-11 was just an accident? No, Radical Islam has declared war on and hates us. If you check out al Jazera (they have an English language version) they’ll tell you daily that they want us all dead. The fact that we’re leaving the Mideast will be declared as a victory by the jihadists and then, guess what, they’ll come here—why wouldn’t they? And we’ll have no need for a military then, will we?
Yes, we have to cut the budget—big time. How about eliminating the US Depts of HUD, Education, and Energy? That would help. But a huge, devastating cut in our military while we’re at war? What are they thinking? Are they thinking?
