On the morning of August 8, 2008 Russian forces invaded the tiny Republic of Georgia in what Russia cynically characterized as an act of "preemptive defense". Thus once again this volatile region explodes in violence and increases the already escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.
According to the bleak assessment of one of our Fox News commentators, "with our military already stretched thin", we are now confronted with the possibility of "being dragged into yet another war, which we cannot afford".
Indeed, we seem threatened on all sides, the martial rattling of our enemies' sabers grows louder and more ominous every day.
Drawn inexorably into conflicts and wars which we can no longer afford, our meager military forces dangerously depleted and already stretched beyond endurance, besieged by the dark forces of fear and travail
our poor beleaguered nation passes into the Valley of the Shadow of Death...
Of course, there's another way of looking at all this.
Of course, there's another way of looking at all this.
We have faced fear and travail before, haven't we? We have passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death a few times before and we're still here, aren't we? And perhaps before we all start feeling too sorry for ourselves, and too beleaguered, maybe we should take a closer look at just how badly off we really are.
Let's begin by looking at just how costly our national military burden really is. To widen our perspective a bit, here are some interesting statistics:
The percent of our national GDP currently allocated to defense is 3.7
The percent of our national GDP allocated to defense during Vietnam was 9.4
The percent of our national GDP allocated to defense in 1944 was 37.8
The percent of our national GDP allocated to defense during Vietnam was 9.4
The percent of our national GDP allocated to defense in 1944 was 37.8
And what about our over-stretched and sorely depleted military?
The United States now spends at least 3 times as much on defense as China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Cuba, Libya, and Sudan combined.
The United States has the largest and most deadly air force in the entire world. The destructive capabilities of our massive and under-utilized Air Force are awesome and unmatched by any other nation. Our blue water Navy is the largest and most powerful naval force on earth, capable of taking on any three nations combined. If these formidable forces were ever to be unleashed against a potential adversary the consequences would be devastating.
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