Somebody mentioned in the heated mars debate, that DoD budget soups up way more than Nasa. With the american deficit as it is today, why don't the government cut somewhat on millitary budget (it's not like it will criple the power of the large army very much) or is the stranglehold of industrialists such strong that no vision for long term broader prosperity can be developed ? sometimes you get the eary feeling that another war must be fought to have an excuse to shoot another 200 expensive cruisemissiles and drop a few thousand bombs that all need to be replaced at high costs, Cost bared by taxpayers, looted foreign resources and mainly going to the pockets of the junta, not caring very much about the collateral damge... Surely, the short term profit for the happy few might lead to long term misery for many others, including many non-industrialist american citizens? If the DoD keeps sucking milk from an increasingly empty breast, I am affraid we have some very huge colonial conflicts coming.
DoD and NASA are both going to rebel against the Bush Administration's excesses and abuses. In a few months, the Busheviks wil be lame ducks, and in a few more, they will be gone. Unless of course, if the Busheviks can provoke something horrible to occur. I'm hopeful in the knowledge that there are patriots among us, with very high clearances, who will blow the whistle if they see such a thing becoming imminent.
I can't see the DoD rebelling against an administration that gives it $387 billion dollars to spend and then gives it an extra $96 billion so far to run the Iraq war (expected to rise to $166 billion by the time the election comes around) and which is epecting to ask for another $55 billion after the election for Iraq, as well as giving another $400-odd billion for the next FY to the DoD. (For those keeping score, that's over a trillion dollars in two years, twice the current federal budget deficet...)
The DoD of the US is sucking up massive amounts of the US budget and is en par to what the Soviet Union was in the late 80's (Both at about $400 billion) . The US is going down the road of Soviet-ization of the government; social programs will suffer greatly because of militarism and space programs. The invasions of Afghanistan (1979-2001) and Iraq are reminiscent of the Soviet Policy, or the Brezhnev doctrine in which basically the USSR would exercise the right to protect communist state by military force if necessary. PNAC is simply not that different, instead of maintaining the status quo, it wanted to reform it. The PNAC crowd wants the defense budge to be at least 4% of the GDP, and it wants some idiotic but ambitious military projects. Notably the largely ineffectual NMD shield, at a cost of $60 billion, invasions, and to preserve US military power. They know that US economic dominance will not last, so how do you preserve that dominance? Militarily of course, that to me is symptomatic of a dying empire, like the Soviet empire. Where you force ppl into your way or the deadly highway to American cruise missiles. The American public feels strong now, but military strength means nothing without the moral imperative behind it.
Well God gave his personal blessing to the president, what better moral imperative do you need? Did you know that Brezjnev had a really huge collection of Mercedes Benz automobiles, maybe thanx to his love for German cars we never had WW3, he would miss out on the latest model Benz Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Where would the plans for the rocketshield be if the axis-of evil NK and Iran would pose no potential threat ? Another enemy would have to found to justify such large spendings ?
Well God gave his personal blessing to the president, what better moral imperative do you need? A secular humanist one like the one that the US is based on, and basically all of modern western civilization. One that respects the dictates of international law, which she herself helped to draft, and is supposed to abide by. By not going it alone, and by creating an international consensus on the issue to Iraq would be a better place to live in today. By the end of this decade American military spending will be $1 trillion per annum... the Soviet Union has been re-born.
Vortexx You edit so much, please try to put all you can at once. Where would the plans for the rocketshield be if the axis-of evil NK and Iran would pose no potential threat ? The thing is that the Russians would have accepted NMD if it were placed over that "rogue" states that actually presented a threat to the US. For instance the shield would be put over NK, and Iran. Making the interceptor’s job easier and avoiding any confrontation with China and Russia. This was rejected, and Russia now has to "re-evaluate" her nuclear position, and China will be increasing her ICBM capability. Another enemy would have to found to justify such large spendings ? Terrorism is that enemy, since it is unofficial it cannot be compared to the US, and since the US is lumping states together as one, there is that “enemy”.
