You're drawing a false comparison. The options in that case are {trust military leaders to give accurate $ figures that will lead to the safety of the US}, or {

You're drawing a false comparison. The options in that case are {trust military leaders to give accurate $ figures that will lead to the safety of the US}, or {to not trust them} because there may be _many_ reasons not to (organizational incentives, demonstrated incompetence, lack of resource efficiency). Nowhere in those choices is "take the advice of internet randos" -- internet randos just happen to be making those other reasons known to you.