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Originally Posted by jorgelito
What I do not understand is, we have one of the largest and advanced armed forces in the world, so then why are we "stretched so thin"? I always assumed our military's pre-eminence but it seems like were either sitting ducks or weak or something. Plus we spend an incredible amount for defense. What gives? Where is the money going then if were still so "weak"? I find this a bit disconcerting and alarming and I'm concerned that we're being called out and the world is seeing our vulnerabilities.
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it really doesn't matter how strong a military is... there will always be limitations. our military supremacy is, literally, unparalleled in the history of the world. even so, our strength lies in technological innovation and well-trained personnel... not in numbers. i think it's a popular misconception (one i'm not saying that you, specifially, hold) that the U.S. military is some monolithic thing with millions upon millions of troops. in fact, our force size is relatively small when compared to the diversity of our missions. there are plenty of militaries around the world who have more people in them.
the money in the budget that goes to defense is spent on maintaining our distinct technological advantage and maintaining a well trained/paid/educated fighting force. it does not, however, stretch far enough to have all those things and also have millions of soldiers at our disposal.
if the military is tasked with:
fighting a war in afghanistan...
fighting a war in iraq
prosecuting a massive drug interdiction campaign in south america
maintaining a forward operating presence in europe and asia
providing tsunami relief across the pacific
being on-call to defend homeland targets
defending embassies and american interests abroad
being a major component of ALL united nations operations
composing a majority of all NATO forces
etc.
all the while balancing the mission with its people... having enough people to accomplish these objectives (and MANY more) while making the lifestyle livable so people will stay in an all-volunteer force. you can see why they are spread so thin, especially in light of all the many personnel drawdowns brought about in the 90s.
our policymakers deploy our military at an unprecedented pace with an ever-broadening scope. and still they ask that they do so with fewer and fewer people.
trust me, the american taxpayer is getting their "bang" (pun intended) for their buck. still, there is a point where it can go no farther... either we must begin to accept how much bang we can wring out of a buck, or shell our more bucks to get more bang.