Saturday, May 28, 2011

 

Sanity in Military Force Reductions

Just where might we become involved in a war?


1. Defending Israel from the Arabs, after the Arabs have built up their military further.

2. Defending South Korea from NK aggression yet again.

3. Intervening in Pakistan to neutralize their nukes, if not also to protect our logistics trails.

4. In the short term, carrying out the plans and operations for Iraq and Afghanistan.

5. Defending Europe once again in five or six+ years from now?



If we experience force reductions, say to a 500,000 man army, a 6 carrier navy, and a 40 wing air force, or roughly a 50% reduction from current levels, it would tax that remaining force massively to take on any one of these conflicts and hope for success, while maintaining other military commitments within the US and worldwide. If, any other of these possible conflicts were to pop up at the same time, we would be obliged to ramp up massively once again and call up the reserves, or else let fate take its course, which would be not only more expensive than keeping a sufficient force at the ready, but it also allows a large time penalty in favor of any aggressor before we can show up in force.

So what exactly is the right capability level for our forces? A 25% reduction? A 33% reduction al la Clinton and his peace dividend that was spent before it was actually realized, and cost us when we had to ramp up again a bit later more than was actually saved? What should we allow for RDT&E of new weapons, and what should we allow for stockpiling of weapons and ammunition? What should be allowed for initial or continued production of new combat and transport aircraft, ships, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, missiles (large and small), and other military goods. What should we allow for continued intelligence gathering by all of the current organizatrions involved? And, not to forget, what is to be allowed for continued training of the standing force, and continued maintenance as things break?

Obviously, given that it can be found in the military and its procurement channels, waste, fraud and abuse of funds should be eliminated, as should weakly justified or totally unjustified studies and procurements. One estimate I saw reckoned that perhaps a billion dollars a year could be saved by tightening up on the oversight of expenditures.

In my opinion, rather than engaging in sweeping and generalized statements about reducing the military forces, we should delve into the realities of our needs, element by element., situation by situation, and forecast by forecast and plan by plan of our future military needs worldwide, and then rack up the score and the bill. This is what Bill Gates is doing right now, and he should be heard out fully.







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Thursday, May 19, 2011

 

Wishful Thinking



On many recent occasions I have reacted to events stemming from the current administration with the thought that America would be far better off if Elitist Progressives were to somehow disappear: all of them! Then, I had a second thought that quite a few Radical Rightwing people might have to disappear also simply to balance the body politic properly and prevent any sort of Rightist revolution. 

What do I mean by “somehow disappear?” I mean just exactly that. They are somehow suddenly and permanently no longer in their usual positions of power and influence over we the people. They no longer try to push their vision of society onto us instead of the Constitutional Republic that we were gifted with by the Founding Fathers. They simply cease to be in the public eye, and leave the nation to those of us who believe in America by and large as she is and has been for some 230 years, not as some leftwing radical dreamers think they know how she should be. Virtually every one of my list of the 100 worst horrors in America today would instantly resolve themselves and fade into the background.

You might ask: “do I mean kill them?” Certainly not! All I mean is that they go home instantly and tend to their own knitting, play bridge or chess, go boating, travel the world, party all day, write a book, or do useful and constructive work (if they know how), but they do not enter into the political arena or government service ever again (except to vote, of course).  Their voices would not be heard on the national scene again, either. Their lies and half truths, their set pieces and schemes, and their false choices would never confuse the electorate again, and the media would perforce have to come round to honest reporting and analysis rather than being a megaphone for the worst of Elitist Progressive ideas and the worst of Progressive people.  What is more important, we could begin to balance the books once more and eliminate the massive national debt these radicals have saddled us with, which would be most appreciated by our children and their children.

Oh how I wish I could snap my fingers and make this happen!

Snap!  Snap!  Snap!

Damn! It didn’t work!

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Tuesday, May 03, 2011

 

UBL RIP

The man is finally dead. He should have been not long after 9/11. I give little credit to Obama, except that he didn't stop the plan. This event should not have anything at all to do with the election, except to wonder why it took so long under Obama and Bush to find the man and kill him.  Then too, why are many other high level terrorists still alive?

What an ironic tragedy if the death of ben Laden actually helped Obama to win a second term, so we can double the deficit again.
I cannot resist crowing that I told you so way before the 2008 election that Obama was poison to the nation.

A further thought on Obama: here is a man that exhibits a dangerous moral ambivilance; he organizes and avidly tries to watch in real time the assasination of ben Laden by a bullet in the face, yet he loathes the waterboarding and other extrodinary interrogation methods used to help find UBL in the first place, even though waterboarding leaves the victim essentially undamaged. A bullet in the face represents the ultimate damage one can do to a human being.

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