Do we need to maintain an Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard? Some posters here seem to think all military operations are carried out by the Marine Corp. If true, why are we spending billions on the other branches?
Do we need to maintain an Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard? Some posters here seem to think all military operations are carried out by the Marine Corp. If true, why are we spending billions on the other branches?
We only need half , if that, if we'd quit playing world police. But that would expose our house of cards economy
I am in favor of maintaining an 11 carrier battle group Navy. That is the true source of US power.
The Army is downsizing to a good level, I think, so long as force structure remains solid. The air force needs to be limited to strategic - air superiority and nuclear. Give CAS to the army (the marines already have it).
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
How are the Marines going to get to the fighting if there is no Navy to transport them? Oh, and by the way our NAVY aircraft carriers also contain enough planes with nuclear weapons to deliver species-ending firepower to the enemy, which kinda prevents the world from ever using those weapons.
Speaking of those planes, they come from the Air Force. You kinda need planes to drop bombs on the bad guys.
Truthfully, the military budget (WHICH IS A TOTAL FRACTION OF THE WHOLE FEDERAL BUDGET AND IS A TOTAL FRACTION OF THE WELFARE STATE) is the best value we get from Washington. Those soldiers and their state of the art machinery make this place safe so uneducated liberals can $#@! and whine about too much military. Nobody will DARE attack you as long as there are four branches of the military protecting you.
I think you owe them a lot more respect. Without them, you're just another infidel casualty.
CreepyOldDude (02-16-2015)
Go Army.
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
CreepyOldDude (02-16-2015)
It depends on what we want our military to do. Coast Guard is a given, we need to monitor/control/enforce who gets into the US & territories (& fishing limits, commerce, oil & minerals, etc.) The overseas & foreign policy - yah, rationally we should decide policy & then build the forces necessary to execute.
Past distortions (Prex. Eisenhower letting CIA & Dept. State off the leash, rattling the nuclear sabre, deposing Mossadegh & re-imposing the Shah of Iran, backing the Far Rightists in C. & S. Americas, etc.) are still with us - complicating our discussions & policy in the World. Given all that, I think we tend to take existing & near-term US military forces & make policy ad hoc, as best we can.
The other unfortunate effect on policy - our military is the only tool for direct involvement off shore - witness our relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake, the anti-Ebola logistics/train/build campaign in W. Africa. Dept. State & all other agencies have next to no field ops, no budget, no personnel (TMK) who could even begin to set up relief efforts nor any other sustained effort. Military officers I believe now direct all US intel agencies, from organic military, CIA, NRO, the intel czar, NSA - everything except maybe Dept. State's own organic intel. As the military is interested in targeting (actionable) intel - that means CIA (meant as an outside study/intel group to the Executive branch) has no real reason for being.
CIA had issues in the past anyway - see Prex. Eisenhower & the Dulles bros. above. But with military or ex-military @ all the alphabet-soup helms, the Opp Forces are always going to be 10' tall. (See the Tiger Team evaluations of CIA estimates of Soviet capabilities back in the Cold War days, especially in the 1970s, -80s.)
God Bless America, God Bless our Military and God Bless the Police who defended the country against the insurgents on January 6, 2021
Think 3rd party for 2024 folks. Clean up America.
Once I tell you that we agree to disagree there will be no more discussion between us in the thread so please don't waste your time continuing to argue your points because I will not respond.
gamewell45 (02-15-2015),southwest88 (02-15-2015)
God Bless America, God Bless our Military and God Bless the Police who defended the country against the insurgents on January 6, 2021
Think 3rd party for 2024 folks. Clean up America.
Once I tell you that we agree to disagree there will be no more discussion between us in the thread so please don't waste your time continuing to argue your points because I will not respond.