The Invisible Issue.Military spending cuts still a taboo. Ten years after the end of the Cold War, as military spending continues to make up about half of the country's annual discretionary budget, talking about cuts remains the ultimate political taboo. During the presidential campaign, both candidates strongly supported the military budget, differing only on how much to increase it. Gov. Bush proposed a $45 billion increase in the next 10 years, saying that he would "skip a generation" of technology in conventional weapons, be more reluctant to engage in foreign "peacekeeping" operations, while dramatically expanding spending on missile defense Missile defence is an air defence system, weapon program, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. Originally conceived as a defence against nuclear-armed ICBMs, its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged . Vice President Gore, on the other hand, pledged a $100 billion increase to continue all current plans for new weapons along with continued development of a missile defense system Noun 1. missile defense system - naval weaponry providing a defense system missile defence system naval weaponry - weaponry for warships . The candidates' arguing over who would spend the most led to a Wall Street Journal article headlined "Defense Stocks Rise on Vows to Increase Military Spending," noting that whatever happened in the presidential election, the military technology industry could claim victory. Ironically, neither met the escalating demands of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who recently testified to Congress that the current budget of $300 billion per year is $50 billion per year short of what they would like. They argued that developing and purchasing new weapons systems, modernizing existing systems, and conducting missions around the world remain essential. The deeper questions of mission and strategy are seldom addressed. In a world without a single overpowering adversary, the U.S. military remains structured for a "two-war" strategy--preparing for two major simultaneous regional wars. Former Reagan Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb Lawrence J. Korb (born July 9, 1939, in New York City), is the Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a Senior Adviser to the Center for Defense Information. , in a recent report for Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities is a nonprofit organization comprised of 700 buiness leaders. The campaign's goal is shift tax payers money away from military programs to social programs like education, healthcare, alternative energies, and deficit reduction. , noted that this strategy is "widely regarded as wasteful," and argued that the defense budget could be cut by at least 20 percent. Our current era of rapidly expanding budget surpluses leads to a bipartisan feeding frenzy feed·ing frenzy n. 1. A period of intense or excited feeding, as by sharks. 2. Excited activity by a group, especially around a focal point: , with the military first in line. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. should rather examine spending priorities, concentrate on human development both at home and around the world. Although the term has fallen out of fashion, the "military-industrial complex" is alive and well. Duane Shank shank (shangk) 1. leg (1). 2. crus ( 2). shank n. The part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. is issues and policy adviser at Sojourners. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion