Obama did good with his streamlining of the military.

There is no doubt that alot of these old policys in the military had to go. We face different threats today and need a military designed for them. Our cold war era military system is no longer relevant. I have very little to credit Obama with but this move was way overdue.

 

I think that getting past DADT was good. I know a couple of people who have gone into the military recently and seem to be finding a real career there.

 

We just don't need a uniformed mechanized army of attrition so much anymore. That kind of armour needs to be here, on the borders of the US, and it's territories/non contiguous states.

We should just buy a bunch of drones, train a bunch of SEALS, and black ops types, and concentrate on intell like the Israeliis do.

 

Awful idea.

And our military has not been a "Cold War era" one in more than a decade.

 

That is right gut the military and keep funding entitlements and Planned Parenthood. I guess Obama special interests are more important than National Defense.

 

The same argument was being made in U.S. News and World Report just a year before Iraq invaded Kuwait and we suddenly needed a massive land army for stand up armored combat.

Enemies can appear quickly.

 

The devil is in the details so it is too soon to say if this makes sense..I expect the cuts to occur but the needed increases to never materialize. I also expect the dems to try very hard to gut retirement and medical care for military retirees while not doing the same to their federal retiree base.

 

As successful as Desert Storm was....in the end, what did it get us?....are Kuwaitiis more important than entitlement seekers in the US?

 

Maybe Democrats will make it legal to abort veterans and pay Planned Parenthood to kill them.

 

That is so sick and twisted that it goes full circle and actualy becomes kind of funny in a way.

 

Although not an Obama fan I do like the new guard system at the Navy Yard where I work , returning Marines and Squids are now guarding the gates and the expensive rent a cops are done

 

President Obama just didn't sit down over breakfast and decide on his own to reduce military spending; the Joint Chiefs of staff make their recommendations to him and as a rule he'll take their advice. I'd think that the Generals know a bit more about the military's needs then you or I do.

 

That's an absurd standard to judge military effectiveness. The Military performed the mission they had been given by the civilian leadership, based on it's view of US national interest.

Your basically arguing that the military should be crappy enough so that it cannot succeed in the missions it's assigned merely because you disagree with the civilian leadership's foreign policy.

 

Breathe a little....I was going for sarcasm.....I've got to use those emoticons.....

....and what you must think of me!......to think I was serious...

 

China is currently bolstering their military. However, they are not increasing military personnel, but creating more advaned weaponry. If you can be on the forefront of military technology, a large standing army no longer becomes a necessity.

 

The first half is true - the chiefs do make their recommendations; however, the president doesn't always take the advice.

 

Obama is the worse president ever.... After all he did nothing about America's lack of really cool modern weapons...... like the stealth fighter.....

 

What a deluded post. Do you know how much is spent on entitlements. If you are only talking about "safety net" programs and not social security, the "welfare" that righties always complain about, it is a small percentage of the buget.

12% on all safety net program, including suppoer for wounded veterans, support for disabled and seriously handicapped people, school lunches for children who may not get another decent meal in a day. Do you want to cut these programs? Maybe, at best 1% of the budget could be considered wasteful welfare where you hear the stories of some person buying a steak on food stamps. Considering the amount of the budget deficit being 40% of the budget, that "entitlements is the problem" BS is just that BS.

The fact of the matter is that this country is going broke and we are spending as much on the military as the rest of the world combined. We just don't need to do that.

If you are a real conservative and really believe in fiscal responsibility, then cutting the military should be one of your top priorities.

 

I am not American and so may have a different perspective.
I ask you this though. Currently America spends more on military then the next 17 countries combined. Isn't it possible that there are savings to be had there?

I know that when a President cuts Military spending he is perceived to be weak. It sounds silly I know, but there you have it.

- Rjay

 

Generals know that they don't get promoted unless they go along with the people in power.

And for years, the official recommendations have been for a larger military force structure than what Obama proposes.

 

That is what most liberals want.

They do not give a dam about protecting the U.S. or its interests. They don't care about the budget deficit.

Most believe that the U.S. and its use of military force is a bad thing for the world so they seek to hobble the U.S. military so it can't be used except with massive amounts of foreign cooperation and the okay from Russia and China.

Most liberals. Not all of course.

 

Obama does not listen to his generals. I would like to know what Generals recommended.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-06-24/news/29697548_1_afghanistan-pullout-afghan-partners-taliban

 

Yet Obama will not touch it. Obama protects his special interest groups. I guarantee he will not allow Planned parenthood to be defunded.

 

Yet the Chinese army is vast...we have 550K in the army, China about 1.7M active duty...

 

Well, cutting the military is about the ONLY thing you definitely count on a liberal Democrat to do.

Now whether or not it's smart streamlining or just liberal kneejerk cutting remains to be seen.