A war we can’t afford
Cato Institute
by Doug Bandow
01/04/10
The U.S. government is broke. Nevertheless, Washington is currently fighting two wars: one is ebbing while the other is expanding. How to pay for the Afghan build up? Democrats say raise taxes. Republicans say no worries. The best policy would be to scale back America’s international commitments. The United States will spend more than $700 billion on the military in 2010. The administration’s initial defense-budget proposal, minus the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, was $534 billion, almost as much as total military spending by the rest of the world. Even though the Iraq war is winding down, its costs will persist for years as the government cares for thousands of seriously injured veterans...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11103
No exit
The American Conservative
by Andrew J. Bacevich
Since 1945, the United States military has devoted itself to the proposition that, Hiroshima notwithstanding, war still works — that, despite the advent of nuclear weapons, organized violence directed by a professional military elite remains politically purposeful. From the time U.S. forces entered Korea in 1950 to the time they entered Iraq in 2003, the officer corps attempted repeatedly to demonstrate the validity of this hypothesis. The results have been disappointing. Where U.S. forces have satisfied Max Boot’s criteria for winning, the enemy has tended to be, shall we say, less than ten feet tall... (for publication 02/01/10)
http://amconmag.com/article/2010/feb/01/00006/
Congress spending like drunken sailors
Nolan Chart
by Jake Towne
01/07/10
Congress recently raised the debt ceiling by $290 billion in order to close out 2009 — but it almost wasn’t enough. As Zerohedge reports, spending surged by over $200 billion in two days, blasting through the old debt limit just after the bill managed to pass the Senate and hurriedly get rubber-stamped by the President. There is ‘just’ $140 billion left until the debt ceiling must be extended yet again...
http://www.nolanchart.com/article7233.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=defense+budget
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+spending
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+elite
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Max+Boot
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=veterans
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Doug+Bandow
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Andrew+J.+Bacevich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jake+Towne
by Doug Bandow
01/04/10
The U.S. government is broke. Nevertheless, Washington is currently fighting two wars: one is ebbing while the other is expanding. How to pay for the Afghan build up? Democrats say raise taxes. Republicans say no worries. The best policy would be to scale back America’s international commitments. The United States will spend more than $700 billion on the military in 2010. The administration’s initial defense-budget proposal, minus the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, was $534 billion, almost as much as total military spending by the rest of the world. Even though the Iraq war is winding down, its costs will persist for years as the government cares for thousands of seriously injured veterans...
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11103
No exit
The American Conservative
by Andrew J. Bacevich
Since 1945, the United States military has devoted itself to the proposition that, Hiroshima notwithstanding, war still works — that, despite the advent of nuclear weapons, organized violence directed by a professional military elite remains politically purposeful. From the time U.S. forces entered Korea in 1950 to the time they entered Iraq in 2003, the officer corps attempted repeatedly to demonstrate the validity of this hypothesis. The results have been disappointing. Where U.S. forces have satisfied Max Boot’s criteria for winning, the enemy has tended to be, shall we say, less than ten feet tall... (for publication 02/01/10)
http://amconmag.com/article/2010/feb/01/00006/
Congress spending like drunken sailors
Nolan Chart
by Jake Towne
01/07/10
Congress recently raised the debt ceiling by $290 billion in order to close out 2009 — but it almost wasn’t enough. As Zerohedge reports, spending surged by over $200 billion in two days, blasting through the old debt limit just after the bill managed to pass the Senate and hurriedly get rubber-stamped by the President. There is ‘just’ $140 billion left until the debt ceiling must be extended yet again...
http://www.nolanchart.com/article7233.html
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=defense+budget
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+spending
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+elite
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Max+Boot
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=veterans
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Doug+Bandow
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Andrew+J.+Bacevich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jake+Towne
rudkla - 6. Jan, 11:16
