Your turn America
 

We've had our mass-culling, now it's your turn.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16430405

Still, on the up side, at least you have plenty of reserve stuff that you can cull, we ran out of that during the 1990s. :damn:

no surprises there

Just sell off everything at Davis-Monthan either for scrap or servicable, don't just leave it all there. :nope:

That should cut a hole in the red!

What good is a huge army if you can't pay for it? Just look at the red army after the wall came down. Tons of equipment and everything in awful shape. That can't be the answer either, can it?

he's treating the a symptom... not curing the ailment just like they have all done and will do until there is nothing left

He sounds like F'ing Rumsfeld.

Edit:
As long as were downsizing (again), i still say, lets yank all those cold war era bases we have dotted all over the damn place that are doing nothing but supporting local economies. Bring some of them back stateside to support our own local economies for a change.

It always amazes me how we need bases in Germany, but can't afford a space program or social programs for seniors that "need to be cut".

It is common sense for the citizen, but unspeakable for our politicians who are fed by the defense lobbies.

You know what they call "lobbying" in Europe?

Bribery.

Does this mean the Chagos Islanders can have their land back?

The easiest way to fix the defense budget would be to cut out all the waste and fraud, but instead we have a President that has decided to hamstring our ability to fight two wars at a time when both China and Iran are acting more belligerent on the world stage. :-?

You are aware that the airbase in Frankfurt is your main hub for transportation for Iraq and Afghanistan (at least IIRC)?
So some of those bases are of strategic value when you go into other foreign lands again.;)

Most people who whine about US forward deployment bases have little understanding of our military strategy. ;P

Yes you are right, Rammstein AFB I think it is. (IIRC)


Maybe we have no bussiness in foreign lands with so many of our own hurting. The basic American thinks fiddling about in the ME is bullstuff (schiesse)
Germany is strong, they do not need us anymore. My people need us, not yours, not the French, not English, not Afghani.

Xenophobic no. Isolationist? Perhaps. Or maybe just feel we should be as self absorbed as anyone else.

Europe is strong. Let them bear some of the weight.

I think 450 billion dollars for the military in one year is not exactly "lean" ?
How much was it before, or are those only the "defence" costs not including offensive .. err .. hardware ?
600 billion for anti terror, additionally. National Defense [sic!] Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...scal_Year_2012
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=48574
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain...-act-now-what/

This building of US interrogation campps all over the world basically undermines international law, it seems no one has even noticed that yet. And even without that i feel it is a serious blow against freedom in the US itself.

I noticed this nice comparison of military forces from BBC page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16428133 (I know its a bit simplified).

Some highlights:
UK $63.7bn, 174,000 personnel
Russia $52.7bn, 956,000 personnel
I know that Russia has conscription, lower material costs (fuel, food etc.) and so on but still that comparison doesn't make sense.

USA $739.3bn, 1,569,000 personnel
China $89.9bn, 2,285,000 personnel
I agree with small print (below comparison table) that China's official military budget figure is nonsense. It can't be that low.

But for the USA to cut back, would force Europe to step up. As of now Europe cannot afford to step up.

Costs not included in that figure is the USAs UN funding, which we provide a lions share of the funding and ground troops for.

In all fairness Europe has not paid its fair share since 1945. Your cities are not bombed out anymore. and alot of your countries are doing better than us.

Some help?

Not being mean, or "arrogant American man", just saying from a rational standpoint.

(pardon my bluntness)

.
Yes China will always lie. Sun Tzu always did preach deception, it was a running topic in his Art of War.

Well, we kinda sorta anointed ourselves as the Worlds Policeman. The reasons of which im not sure, but probably have their roots in the Cold War. At any rate, we've been kind of lingering here as the Worlds Policeman. Times change, people change, maybe that will change too.

edit: Personally id welcome it if we were to long longer be "The Worlds Policeman". I didn't always enjoy being in some 2nd or 3rd world hell hole, presumably for the benefit of some people that i could give less then a (bleep) about.

edit: and I don't mean the American people. In the end, nothing i did mattered where the US people are concerned.

Step up to what? Nobody, not even the Red Menace has the cash to start or support a major conflict.

Don't you mean back to the British, and then we can hand it back. And if we can say it was all our idea and come away with some dignity, all the better. :-?

The question is what do you mean exactly with "step up"? The times of big Tank and Infantry Armies are over, todays asymetrical warfare needs highly mobile special forces. Then the question arise for what purpose should those European Nations step up their military?
Oh realy? may i remind you about the British Army and the Greeks who fought with the US together in Korea? And how about Desert Strom and Afgahnistan? Ah i forgot you fight your wars always alone.
I found it rather funny, that the Americans who told us Germans that we Germans are such bad militarists for the last 75 years, are now demanding a step up. Why should we? we dont have a Problem with the Iranians, not to mention what the reasons for you Iranian Problem are. Does it realy make you wonder that these people hate you, after you financed one of the most sinister villains (aka Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) down there for decades. It had a reasons why Khomeini came back to Iran back in 1979.
Show me a politician whos not lying and i show you an idiot. :03:

Okay, if we're cutting the military, let's start with all the bases in the blue states.:haha: