Troops, like employees, are fluid. They are cash liquidity. So, when cuts occur the troop numbers are the ONLY place it can happen. That would not be necessary if the USA hadn't over spent to their Military Industrial Complex.
The monies spent to providing wealth to the private military sector are by contract. So, the USA is locked into contracts for stupid projects like the F35 and is slowly but assuredly dismantling it's readiness.
If a country invests in stupid infrastructure like replacing soldiers with drones in a warehouse, then it's sincere readiness is profoundly impacted.
WASHINGTON
February 24, 2014 (AP)
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel (click here) is recommending shrinking the Army to its
smallest size in decades in an effort to balance defense needs with
budget realities, according to defense officials.
Hagel is expected to announce that and other recommendations Monday in a
speech at the Pentagon outlining his priorities for next year's defense
budget.
Army leaders have been saying for months that they expected to absorb
additional troop reductions as the nation prepares to end its combat
role in Afghanistan this year. The Army is already scheduled to shrink
to 490,000 active-duty members from a wartime peak of 570,000. Hagel is
expected to propose cutting it further to between 440,000 and 450,000.
Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Monday
that Hagel consulted closely with the military service chiefs on how to
balance defense and budget-saving requirements.
"He has worked hard with the services to ensure that we continue to
stand for the defense of our national interests — that whatever budget
priorities we establish, we do so in keeping with our defense strategy
and with a strong commitment to the men and women in uniform and to
their families, Kirby said....The USA has supplied a military presence globally. It has put the USA in a position whereby zealots like Cheney and Bush can simply build faux wars and actually invade sovereign nations without remorse.
That level of military presence has driven a build up of military presence by other major power, not for the purpose of being an ally, but to protect themselves from the USA's military shadow.
The more a country spends on it's military, the less it has to spend on it's people AND development of a modern day economy. If Russia and China were to seek to spend the monies the USA does on war readiness it would impoverish every person in the country, every business and would use nationalism to justify the pain of the people.
Does that sound familiar? What was the USA doing during the Bush administration to justify the abandonment of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq? Nationalism. The people pledged their lives to war for the greater good of the country. It was bullshit.
The point is the USA has to allow other nations to grow their military and their own national security rather than relying on the USA to do it. That includes the reality of Europe building their own missile ships and parking them on their shoreline. That means Europe builds it's own missile defense shield, if that is what they want. The American people sincerely don't like being the world's enemy.
The most promising ally the USA has is France. It has capacity and capability. That is the relationship the USA needs to have with every nation. In the year 2014 we should be growing TRUST and not hatred or mistrust.
No one should believe the USA should never have a military or assign it's national security to hope, but, the enemy isn't the Cold War anymore. There is a huge challenge for the Asian nations to end GENERATIONAL tugs of war over islands. And Africa is simply a mess with warlords and agrarian economies. South America has taken the reins of it's own power and charted a course for success. The Mideast is in chronic flux right now, with the latest being the resignation of the Prime Minister's cabinet in Egypt.
The USA has come through a century of self-indulgent wealth justified by promoting democracy. It instilled dictators in the Middle East for the sake of oil. The methods of it's intelligence agencies were to begin rebel attacks that would unseat governments not friendly to the USA. Some would say that is legitimate as a national security strategy. Maybe. But, what is guaranteed to follow is the USA backing the rebels for the sake of democracy and then USA troops die. I don't believe war has to solve the problems of a nation and it's international relations.
USA Imperialism 'feels right' to many, many of it's citizens. But, it is a faux god the USA has to shed.
The wealth of the country has found it's way into the hands of a few while the country itself has turned surveillance on it's own people. There has been no defense of the Middle Class and the status of the unions that guarantee it's long life in the country. Washington under estranged political leaders and parties have turned against the well being of it's own people. There is no reason to believe this trend is benevolence in any way. Citizens should not have to survive but thrive. Thriving by a majority of it's citizens guarantees an enviable brain trust and a growing economy.
The Techno USA Military is an absolute abhorrence to this planet. A computer doesn't need air to breath, food to eat or water to drink. It doesn't need anything except a reason for action and those that push the buttons. Sorry, I just don't see it.
The USA has to take a breath after a century of military dominance. It needs to allow it's allies to grow their own defenses, while seeking diplomatic solutions in REALISTIC outcomes. If the USA is to remain a strong and steadfast nation mired in democracy, it needs to promote peace. Peace does not mean every country is "Little America" honed by war.
The USA is at a new horizon with it's military. It has to promote a national defense while finding a balance with a peaceful profile. The extravagant military spending has to end. The USA has to measure it's military ability against the nations of the world. I like the "Balance of Power." It makes sense and promotes demilitarization of the world. Non-proliferation has to become sincere non-proliferation.
