A Buck Private Here And A Buck Private There, Adds Up.

Did you know that right now. This year. We're taxed lower than at any time in the last thirty years? That's a fact. But we're whining about it more then at any time in the last, oh I don't know, probably since the Whiskey Rebellion. Not that there isn't reason to complain. We do spend too much. Especially on the military. Now I'm a strong believer in being ready to defend ourselves, especially against terrorists. But a huge standing army can't really do that any more. And I can assure you that continuing testing on advanced weaponry that doesn't work and that we really don't need, isn't in our best interest. So. Why do we need a huge standing army? In order to protect the world, presumably from itself. Does Japan really need our protection? I certainly don't see Japan as a military threat to us, and I think they could raise their own defensive force in order to protect themselves. Same goes for Europe. I don't think the Pentagon knows the cold war is over. Somebody suggested we turn some of the less combat related jobs in the military over to civilian workers. I'm not sure that would be a cost saver. Well at least somebody's thinking. So what do we need? We need a highly trained, extremely well equiped, rapid response, set of strike forces ready to meet the needs of a twenty first century superpower. If we need a more conventional military force, we have the Marines. What we need from the Army is that special forces kind of force. Maybe we need to increase our reserve force. Our National Guard. They can do the kind of disaster relief work they've always done and be prepared for the combat that might pop up, but may never. What we need most is for Congress and the Presidents to stop thinking that our military is the answer to everything that happens in the world. We're lousy nation builders. And ya know what? If we stop looking belligerent, maybe the rest of the world would stop being so belligerent. It sure would save a lot of money. And lives. Then we can get back to doing what we do best. Complaining.