US Throws Hundreds of Billions Away Each Year to the Pentagon

America throws hundreds of billions of dollars away each year, giving the Pentagon new toys to play with. It is true. I am a pacifist and proud of it. However, this article has little to do with my personal beliefs. This is about government waste, military failures, and a lack of common sense.

Although President Biden is poised to sign a military budget of $773 billion, a 4% increase from 2021, some hawks in the former Grand Old Party, now the “Russo-American Party,” want a budget closer to one trillion dollars.

I am not alone in my strong objections to anything near this bloated funding for a military that has proven to be incompetent. Let us look at some facts which support a much smaller budget for a military force five times larger than all others combined.

I begin with a common and valid complaint from those more concerned with the needs of most Americans and less concerned about preparing for wars. Watchdog groups estimate that 50 cents out of every dollar allotted to our military go to waste. That money could be used for healthcare, education, and repairing our nation from the ravages of time.

Fact: Stored in warehouses on a base in northern California, there are hundreds of Bradley tanks gathering dust. Bradley tanks remain under construction at the cost of $3,166,000 each.

Fact: When the new fighter jet, the F-15, was tested against older aircraft, it failed badly. However, they are under construction again at the cost of $80 million each.

Fact: The military leaders do not win wars. After WWII, the Korean conflict ended in a cease-fire, no peace treaty has ever been signed. After being involved in South Vietnam for 20 years, our military left in disgrace in 1975. The illegal invasion of Iraq accomplished nothing, with the exception of the creation of ISIS. President Biden had the courage to leave Afghanistan. The war began in October 2001, and our troops came home in August of 2021. Not one of these military conflicts could be labeled as anything close to a victory.

What we lost were thousands of our finest men and women and trillions of dollars.

So, I ask a very legitimate question: “why should our military be given more money to waste?” Wars cannot be won in the 21st century, and Vladimir Putin is proving that fact today in Ukraine. Russia is slow to learn. They finally retreated from Afghanistan in 1989 after a failed 10-year-war. However, we are slower. Our military spent 20 years in Afghanistan with nothing to show for our efforts.

A lesson I learned at a very young age from my grandfather was, “work smarter not harder.” Our military must learn to make wiser decisions. Obviously, making our forces larger is not the solution. And the moronic addition of a “space force” should remain the responsibility of the United States Air Force. More waste of money.

Since WWII, all American wars have been fought in jungles and deserts. There are no air battles between “super-fighters,” or huge tank battles. Our military leaders are either poorly trained for the current situations or not trained at all.

For decades right-wing politicians lied to the people, telling us that we need a bigger budget for the military. “The truth lives here.” They are playing politics with the quality of life for all Americans.

It is time for our government to follow the lead of countries whose quality of life is far superior to our own. People must become the priority. Corporations can care for themselves. Our military can do better. Giving them bigger and bigger budgets makes no sense at all.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Defense budget boosts St. Louis-made F-15s, but zeroes out Super Hornet; by Austin Huguelet
Defense News: Biden requests $773 billion for Pentagon, a 4% boost; by Joe Gould and Leo Shane III

Featured and Top Image by Touch of Light Courtesy of Wikimedia – Creative Commons License
Inset Image by U.S. National Archives Courtesy of NARA & DVIDS Archive – Public Domain License