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I think we need a citation on money being the cost to keeping those shipping lanes open. We already spend much more than China and Russia combined, it’s not eas

I think we need a citation on money being the cost to keeping those shipping lanes open. We already spend much more than China and Russia combined, it’s not easy to imagine that could be reduced and we could still keep those countries in check. My understanding was the major draws were unending wars and country building projects in the midddle east, with large military spending projects the military didn’t ask for but senators bought them anyways as a distant second.

aphextron 8y ago
>We already spend much more than China and Russia combined, it’s not easy to imagine that could be reduced and we could still keep those countries in check Unfortunately warfare doesn't work like an optimization algorithm. People are irrational, lack perfect information, and are susceptible to psychological manipulation. You cannot simply have a force two or three times larger than the enemy. Maintaining peace requires an overwhelming order of magnitude in force which ensures no one will ever be challenged. That's the entire basis of Pax Americana. As far as the budget, all that info is openly available. But the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan have cost about $1.3 trillion, or two years of the total defense budget. The vast majority of recurring military spending is salaries, VA benefits, R&D, and maintaining/upgrading the navy and air force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_...