A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 40% of likely voters "believe the United States spends too much on defense and national security" while only 22% disagree and 32% believe the amount spent is about right. This is a definition of stupidity.

Destroying the US Military

Alan Caruba

January 28, 2013The author of "1984", George Orwell, once said, "The quickest way to end a war is to lose it."

In the preamble to the US Constitution, among the priorities listed is to "provide for the common defense" of the nation. After having fought a six-year war during the Revolution and replaced the failed Articles of Confederation, the framers of the Constitution, many of whom had fought beside George Washington, well understood the need for a standing army and navy to protect the new nation.

In the nation's earliest years, Americans repeatedly elected Presidents with military credentials and experience. In addition to Washington they included Monroe, Jackson, Harrison, Tyler, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush41 and 43. FDR had served as Secretary of the Navy.

In recent times, two Presidents, Clinton -- a draft dodger -- and Obama have had no military experience to draw upon. Over the objections of their generals, both introduced controversial social policies. The military is not a place where one conducts social experiments. It's a place where men go in harm's way to protect the nation.

Today, thanks to the failure of the Congress to address America's spending and growing debt problems, the US military faces a draconian "sequestration" -- massive cuts to the defense budget -- that would so seriously decrease the nation's ability to defend itself and project power globally, that it reminds one of the failure to maintain a strong military that required a massive effort to get up to speed after the Japanese Empire's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The WWII declaration of war included the Nazi Third Reich that threatened the United Kingdom, all of Europe, and Russia.

A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 40% of likely voters "believe the United States spends too much on defense and national security" while only 22% disagree and 32% believe the amount spent is about right. This is a definition of stupidity.
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