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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Benny B on April 13, 2009, 07:19:35 AM
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Is Robert Gates A Genius?
In the past, weapons production has existed in a dreamland, regardless of enemies, costs or trade-offs.
Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009
When a true genius appears," the English satirist Jonathan Swift wrote, "you may know him by this sign; that all the dunces are in confederacy against him." Genius might be a bit much as a description of the secretary of defense, but Robert Gates's budget proposal has certainly gathered all the right opponents. There are the defense contractors, worried that decades of fraudulent accounting are coming to a halt; the Beltway consultants for whom the war on terror has been a bonanza; the armed services, which have gotten used to having every fantasy funded; and the congressmen who protect all this institutionalized corruption just to make sure they keep jobs in their state.
If you're wondering where to come down on the Gates plan, here's a simple guide: John McCain, the most thoughtful, reform-minded legislator on military issues, "strongly supports" it. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe—who has compared the EPA to the Gestapo, Carol Browner to Tokyo Rose and environmentalists to the Third Reich—warns that it will lead to the "disarming of America." You choose.
In recent decades, defense budgeting has existed in a dreamland, where ever-more-elaborate weapons are built without regard to enemies, costs or trade-offs. In 2008 the General Accounting Office said cost overruns for the Pentagon's 95 biggest weapons programs—just the overruns!—added up to $300 billion. The system has become so pervasive and entrenched that most people no longer bother to get outraged.
The endless flow of cash from the taxpayer has prevented strategic thought. Much of the Pentagon budget is based on wish lists from the services, often lists that were conceived during the Cold War. The Air Force developed such a strong attachment to its F-22 fighter-plane program that it failed to notice that the Soviet Union had collapsed and no great-power rival was around to get into dogfights with the U.S. military. We're fighting two wars right now, and not one of the 135 or so F-22s that we already have is being used in either theater. If you're wondering why the program is still around, here's one reason: its manufacture has been spread across 44 states.
Gates also trims the Navy's wish list, cutting its destroyer program. But here his ambition suddenly dried up. He did propose that the United States scale back one of its aircraft-carrier groups, going from 11 to 10—but it will happen 31 years from now! Even so, of course, he faces the usual conservative opposition. The Wall Street Journal worries that a 300-ship Navy is "perilously small." In the recent clash with Somali pirates, it points out that U.S. warships were "hours away." Well, if you've traveled by sea, you'll know that ships move slower than planes. Given the vastness of the oceans, the fact that American naval vessels could reach a relatively nonstrategic location within a few hours is actually a sign of the incredible reach of the Navy, not the opposite.
Gates has really just begun a much-needed process of rethinking American defense strategy after the Cold War. He has focused sensibly on the wars we are actually fighting, to make sure the military is equipped to wage them success- fully. But while we don't need the F-22, we are still going to make 2,443 F-35s at an eventual cost of $1 trillion. Do we really need those? What is the thinking behind that program?
American military budgets should be based on two competing imperatives. The first is that we are likely to be engaged in small, complex conflicts with much weaker opponents in difficult terrain. In other words, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Gates budget makes intelligent provision for these kinds of wars—in which manpower and intelligence are key. The second requirement is deterrence. The U.S. military protects global sea lanes and, in a general sense, preserves the peace. If the Somali pirates were to cause too much trouble, eventually it would be the United States military that would help tackle them. If the Chinese were considering offensive actions in Asia, it is the American response that would make them cautious.
But these imperatives can surely be satisfied with a military that is leaner, more cost-effective, more efficient and does keep somewhere in mind the capacity of potential adversaries. The U.S. Navy has 11 aircraft-carrier groups. China has zero. The U.S. defense budget for 2009 is $655 billion. China's is $70 billion, Russia's is $50 billion. America's cumulative cost overruns add up to more than the total annual defense budgets of China, Russia, Britain and France combined. This smacks less of deterrence and more of mindless extravagance and waste.
Coming up next for Gates is the Quadrennial Defense Review. He should take the opportunity—his last one to leave a long legacy—and move the United States toward a military strategy that is shaped by the world we actually inhabit. That would make him a true genius. He will certainly have all the dunces arrayed against him to prove it.
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When u haven't actually served in the military...write an article for Newsweek to make up for it. First off China is trying to build a blue water Navy...and will have 2 carriers by 2020...with a real nuke carrier soon after. The tactics invloved with that aside, we can't ignore it. Gates is preparing to fight Iraq when he might what to hedge his bets and prepare to fight Iraq and Desert Storm. Nothimg he is doing is wrong on the positive side. But cutting the F22 when the F35 is nowhere near ready is wrong. The F16 needs a replacement , in massive numbers. The whole "reach of the Navy quote is so ridiculous it looks like a child reasoned it. We had ships there because we have a Navy presence in that area. We need 15 carriers to cover the globe...not Barry's ten. This guy is an idiot. He neither understands carrier warfare and its foundation as US foreign policy or emerging threats.
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Wasting billions on the military when other countries are spending much much less and using their money on other things like education and infrastructure.
No offence, but how long do you think USA can remain as the leading nation unless the priorities are changed? ???
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Wasting billions on the military when other countries are spending much much less and using their money on other things like education and infrastructure.
No offence, but how long do you think USA can remain as the leading nation unless the priorities are changed? ???
You're a dumb, ignorant leftwinger...! ;D
Actually Igelkot yearly military expenditures of the US exceed the trillion mark. I think it will go on for the rest of our lives. The military industrial complex is simply too powerful and will not disappear. This is what happens when big government gets into bed with big business.
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It is also what happens when the rest of the world relies on American muscle to clean up their own problems.
Canada , Japan, Taiwan,, Germany, France, Turkey, even Israel have all benefited by the large amount of money the Americans spend on their military and then they all complain that they can't defend themselves with out American help and that other nations are causing sovereignty problems.
Any nation that spends less money on their military because America will bail them out should be spending more money on their military, because we all benefit from what the US does. Otherwise STFU.
I think it is Ironic that As a Canadian we complain that Americans want to take North West passage away from us. Yet we don't have the any nuclear subs or Ice breakers or enough air presence to keep out anyone and we have to rely on America for most of it.
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This is an excellant and overlooked point. Why are all these countries rich...because US naval and other military power ensured it.
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Wasting billions on the military when other countries are spending much much less and using their money on other things like education and infrastructure.
No offence, but how long do you think USA can remain as the leading nation unless the priorities are changed? ???
Since when has the US been in the "leading nation" role????... america is a fourth world welfare begging nation..
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Is Robert Gates A Genius?
Yes. I've always liked and respected Dr. Gates.
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The U.S. defense budget for 2009 is $655 billion. China's is $70 billion, Russia's is $50 billion. America's cumulative cost overruns add up to more than the total annual defense budgets of China, Russia, Britain and France combined. This smacks less of deterrence and more of mindless extravagance and waste.[/b][/u]
:'(
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When u haven't actually served in the military...write an article for Newsweek to make up for it. First off China is trying to build a blue water Navy...and will have 2 carriers by 2020...with a real nuke carrier soon after. The tactics invloved with that aside, we can't ignore it. Gates is preparing to fight Iraq when he might what to hedge his bets and prepare to fight Iraq and Desert Storm. Nothimg he is doing is wrong on the positive side. But cutting the F22 when the F35 is nowhere near ready is wrong. The F16 needs a replacement , in massive numbers. The whole "reach of the Navy quote is so ridiculous it looks like a child reasoned it. We had ships there because we have a Navy presence in that area. We need 15 carriers to cover the globe...not Barry's ten. This guy is an idiot. He neither understands carrier warfare and its foundation as US foreign policy or emerging threats.
Doesn't matter about the Carriers. China has ZERO experience in carrier warfare. The biggest threat China poses is its economy/money/owning our debt. If they get their economy going the technology and military will follow at an equal level with the US. Of course this will take likely until 2020.
Regarding the F22. Is there any threat that we cant deal with in the next few years that we cant dominate until we have enough squadrons of f35's?