The Cold War has been over for a while now but the amount of money spent on military might still boggles the mind. How many guns, bombs, troops, and bases around the world are enough? This isn’t just a debate for isolationists versus interventionists. This is a matter of how much of the budgetary strain our economy can stand. Here are a few facts:
1. The U.S. spends more on defense than the next ten nations combined.
2. Our Navy exceeds the next 13 in firepower.
3. The Department of Defense reports 716 U.S. military bases operational in 38 countries.
4. We have 100,000 troops in Iraq, 100,000 in Afghanistan, 28,000 in Korea, 35,000 in Japan, and 50,000 in Germany.
Does anyone really believe that 716 bases around the world are integral to our national defense? How about that trillion dollar plus Pentagon budget? From the troop list above, notice there are a substantial number of troops in Korea, Japan, and Germany. Those last two are from World War II, which concluded more than 60 years ago!
The real conclusion is that once committed to battle, our troops never leave. The most expensive war is the one that never ends, even after the fighting has stopped. If founding father, James Madison, was right when he said wars are the death of republics, it’s easy to see why America is on life support.
The Holistic Survival Team
