The Republican presidential debates have become so heated and filled with
insults, it almost seems we are watching a pro wrestling match. There is no
civility, and I wonder whether the candidates are about to come to blows. But
despite what appears to be total disagreement among them, there is one area
where they all agree. They all promise that if elected they will “rebuild
the military.”
What does “rebuild the military” mean? Has the budget been gutted?
Have the useless weapons programs like the F-35 finally been shut down? No,
the United States still spends more on its military than the next 14 countries
combined. And the official military budget is only part of the story. The total
spending on the US empire is well over one trillion dollars per year. Under
the Obama Administration the military budget is still 41 percent more than it
was in 2001, and seven percent higher than at the peak of the Cold War.
Russia, which the neocons claim is the greatest threat to the United States,
spends about one-tenth what we do on its military. China, the other “greatest
threat,” has a military budget less than 25 percent of ours.
Last week the Pentagon announced it is sending a small naval force of US warships
to the South China Sea because, as Commander of the US Pacific Command Adm.
Harry Harris told the House Armed Services Committee, China is militarizing
the area. Yes, China is supposedly militarizing the area around China, so the
US is justified in sending its own military to the area. Is that a wise use
of the US military?
The US military maintains over 900 bases in 130 countries. It is actively involved
in at least seven wars right now, including in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and elsewhere.
US Special Forces are deployed in 134 countries across the globe. Does that
sound like a military that has been gutted?