Republicans regularly attack Democrats for not "supporting the troops." I find this criticism rather self-serving much of the time since for most of these Republican would-be patriots seem to feel that supporting the troops means allocating more money to the Department of Defense for weapons programs that are increasingly Brobdingnagian in both the size of their budgets and in the descriptions of what they will do. In many cases, this kind of "support" leads to situations where there is money for new weapons development, but none for the ceramic chest plates that make Kevlar vests "bullet-proof.
In this article about the expanding Defense budget, there is a repetition of the traditional Republican complaint that the Clinton administration cut the budget for the military "too much" after the end of the Cold War. That the Clinton administration "starved" the military budget is a canard that is repeatedly quoted but seldom explained. A former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration attacked this lie in a brief op-ed piece.
Absurdly, because both parties are unwilling to discuss military policy critically, the only criticism comes from the military. This is absurd because the military is because of its obviously hierarchical structure is not well-designed for self-criticism. Nevertheless, there are a few brave soldiers, sailors and Marines who dare to point out the flaws and corruption in the system. Here's a cute little story about corruption in the Navy.
To be continued . . .
Posted by Alan at 08.03.04 23:11