By
Cory Spiller
The presidential debate over military spending is moot and out of focus. Dick Cheney recently quipped, "decisions made today shape the force of tomorrow." Besides adding another worthless sound-bite to the Bush/Cheney repertoire, Cheney's comment is so obvious that it's completely irrelevant. This type of hollow rhetoric is exemplary of the current military debate. Both candidates are vying for votes, both candidates are promising increases in military spending, when the real question remains: why do we need a bigger military in the first place? The idea of increasing military spending is ridiculous, if anything, the military budget should be cut.
The military debate started at the Republican convention with Bush's false claim that two of the nation's ten army divisions would report, "not ready for duty, sir," if called into action. William S. Cohen, the current Defense Secretary and a fellow Republican corrected Bush by basically saying, "wrong;" according to Cohen, all divisions are ready. So what if they weren't? America wouldn't be able to fight a two front war. That's the criteria for military readiness at present. The idea of America fighting a two front war right now is absurd and sickening, because we have no enemies.
American warlords were met with a disheartening paradox when the Cold War ended. The enemy they had fought against for so long had disappeared, however, they were left with no justification for a massive war machine. The Pentagon has worked hard to come up with new enemies: Saddam Hussein and Milosevich. However, they've been stifled now too. George W. Bush promises a revival in the morale of the armed forces. To do that he'll have to find America a new enemy, a new nation to destroy with carpet bombing and a new head of state to vilify as a monster.
Cheney's logic for new executive leadership is to "give our young men and women who put on the uniform the kind of Commander-in-Chief they can respect." Republicans and military personnel must despise draft-dodging president Clinton. However, they shouldn't; Clinton recently signed a bill providing an increase of $287.7 billion dollars to the military; the largest military pay raise in 20 years. And to top that Gore has promised a $100 billion increase over the next fifteen years. How much more does Bush want, and what the hell is he going to do with it all?
Of course he'll increase military personnel payroll, replace and fix dilapidated machinery, and build new and better weapons to kill our new enemy. Bush and Cheney sound like little kids asking for a gift certificate to Toys'R'Us. They will pout and whine until they get the new G.I. Joe aircraft carrier, but what's a new aircraft carrier without the Cobra Commander battle station.
Cheney has had the audacity to complain that "the navy had only enough cruise missiles to satisfy a little over half the strategic need." You poor little baby. We better get a Republican in office right away and buy you some brand new ones. The Republicans believe that the armed Forces are crumbling, and its President Clinton's fault. But is it really?
No, the armed forces have not been crumbling they've been downsizing, because they have no one to fight against. Even the downsizing isn't Clinton's fault, it was overseen by Dick Cheney himself while he was still in the Pentagon. There is a reason our tank divisions are rusting away in a field in Kansas. They've got nothing to do. There is a very good example of military uselessness sitting in Tucson's backyard: Fort Huachuca. What does our country need an air force base force in the middle of nowhere in southern Arizona? The Pentagon must consider the Mexicans extremely dangerous, and an invasion very possible.
It may be true that our airplanes are wasting away in the desert, and our battleships are rusting to nothing sitting in the sea, but that's okay. Let them rust, let our military dwindle, it is a sign of a peaceful nation. Instead of replacing the killing machines, the new president should use those funds for much needed social programs.
Our nation does not need an increase in military spending, our nation does not need the massive war machine we have now. Dick Cheney needs to go to time out. No new toys Dick, you killed enough innocent people already.
