Keeping us safe – the defense of the US

The US spends more on defense than the next 9 biggest spenders, combined (and 6 of the 9, formal allies of the US). Why?

The question can only properly be answered in the context of a clear foreign and defense strategy, and Crunchicrant argues [WORLD ROLE] that no such thing exists: we seem, as a country, to be uncertain about our objectives in the international arena and, by default, to be turning inward.

Defense seems to have become untethered to any foreign and defense strategy: but at a tactical level, does our defense configuration make sense – is it optimized to deter and defeat threats and is it efficient? Its a question which needs to be asked frequently, and answered well, because:

• US military spending is vast: if the country could afford it in the past, it may not be able to now.
• The COVID-19 virus story shows that defense is not necessarily about imposing our will on foreign humans: it goes to the heart of the question “why?”: what are we defending against and what is the best (including most cost effective) way of doing so?
• The question is not, to public view, being well answered – the public Summary of the 2018 Defense Strategy of the US is a flimsy 6 page report full of blandishments. It does not explain why we need to spend $2,000+ per US resident per year on defense.
• To Crunchicrant the make up of the military does not feel ‘modern’: a lot of brawn in the shape of hundreds of thousands of (excellent) military people: is there enough thinking about how our defenses should be configured? Are we prepared for asymmetric and/or unconventional attacks (such as cyber attacks on our vital financial and communications systems). Or are we condemned to fight the last war firing lead at an enemy (who may not line up, conveniently, to be fired at?)
• Crunchicrant ‘discerns’ hammer/nail syndrome’ (“if you are a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”): ask a military person to look for/design a response to threats, that person will see all threats and responses, as military (delivering of lethal lead and other exploding devices)

• Defense expenditure feels beholden to special and regional interests rather than directed to meet national defense needs – observations:
  • Hundreds of DoD installations – forts and bases. Why…?
  • We seem to support a number of legacy military concepts and technologies, for example (2 of many):
    • Tanks? Are they still a thing? Useful in Ukraine 77 years ago? Now?
    • “Light” divisions such as the 10th Mountain: how are they different from marines? What are they for?
  • Omni-presence of defense contractors and their expensive weapon systems – President Eisenhower warned us about the military industrial complex, 60 years ago.
• Sufficiency of defense spending often expressed in terms of numbers of soldiers/active battalions/military ship and aircraft numbers: irrelevant metrics in this third decade of the 21st century – are risks understood and confronted?
• Coordination with allies – the US can substantially magnify its strength through alliances with large successful and friendly countries: are we getting all the cost opportunities?
• COVID-19 has changed things and Crunchicrant does not FEEL safe: confident, certainly that Mexico invading with all its tank divisions (?), or Canada looking to bomb us in our homes will be seen off directly – but the threat is not coming from that direction. There are plenty of hostile actors who would use unconventional means to do us harm (one of the most obvious of these, some sort of bio-attack – we would have thoroughly bungled that).

Oh the grand old duke of York, he had ten thousand men// He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again// When they were up they were up, and when they were down they were down// And when they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down. (In other news: – disease stalked the land, killing hundreds of thousands and freezing the economy – a cyber attack launched against the US penetrated multiple institutions – ultimate damage still unknown: prime suspect – Russia – the US Capitol: overrun by mobs of citizens.)