Our defense budget alone is close to $800 billion dollars annual no one else is even close. We've already won the arms race lol.
That's just to keep ahead of China. Thanks to your support of the new Soviet Union, we may have to spend another $400 to $600 billion to keep ahead of Russia, too. Where is that money going to come from? And don't forget, weapons scientists and weapons manufacturers in the U.S. make a lot more salary than their counterparts in China and Russia. As far as "winning" an arms race, that only occurs when you bankrupt the other country. The last (and only) time that has happened was the late-1980's with Russia. Throwing more money at it than the other country does not mean that you've "won" the arms race. It could mean that you have a lot of inefficiency or corruption in your weapons procurement systems (which we do, by the way). It could mean that you've wasted money on technology that becomes obsolete before its needed. And guess what? It's going to be a lot more difficult to bankrupt Russia after you've handed them the $12 trillion worth of mineral deposits in Ukraine, not to mention their $28 billion/year agriculture business (and the additional billions they can make from that by withholding food from starving countries to negotiate for their natural resources). Do you really think they won't spend any of their newfound billions in wealth on their military? Are you really that gullible? Get ready for those 12% mortgages . . .
So we won the arms race with the USSR only to wind up with Putin who we must stop at all costs. Its almost like we didnt win anything and still "have" to spend a bunch of money on arms!
Putin’s interview lasted a little over 4 hours. Can you imagine Biden staying awake that long? He took 78 questions. Ukraine Weekly Update
We made some major mistakes when we helped re-build Russia in the 1990's. (Blame Bill Clinton.) We did not force Russia to dismantle their defense industry manufacturing capabilities before they received U.S. aid. We provided Russia with a thin veneer of democracy and allowed them to continue manufacturing weapons. We got ourselves 20 years of peace when we weren't worried about the Russian military. We saved over $2.5 trillion on defense spending in the 1990's (see post 21286 on page 1065). Empire building and conquering neighbors seems to be in their DNA. When they went bankrupt, it was a bad situation economically, but there wasn't the kind of ruin and devastation that comes with losing a war on your own turf. Germany was so beaten to a pulp that they gladly accepted any terms and conditions and readily agreed to democracy and peaceful relations with their neighbors. If any country learned the wrong lesson from winning WWII, it was Russia. They became addicted to the idea of global domination and influence. If they could defeat Nazi Germany, they could use their military to defeat anyone. The U.S. practices a lot of global influence, but not a lot of global domination. We abide by international law, and we strive to make sure other countries do as well.
We are presently witnessing the limits (hopefully the end) of America shaping the world to its liking.
Do you really believe this nonsense? Were were "influencing" Iraq when we invaded them unilaterally under dubious pretenses? Are we abiding by international law and making sure others do by sending munitions to a country currently engaging in violating international law (Israel)? They are doing everything we charge the Russians with, with deadlier effect. You can just say all these things are OK when we do it because we need to rule the world.
Russia cripples a Russian official from Belgorod Oblast (next door to Ukraine) by planting land mines in Russia. The official's car drove over the anti-tank mine, and it blew his legs off. You don't have to even be in Ukraine to become a casualty of Russia' military incompetence. The mine was planted in the hopes of disabling Ukraine's recon forces wandering through the area. Officials hit by Russian landmine in Belgorod Oblast, one of them has legs blown off
Did we keep Iraq? Did we set up a puppet government that has to do what we say? How much of Iraq's oil did we take? Is Iraq more peaceful towards its neighbors since the U.S. invasion and occupation? Or have they returned to invading Kuwait since then? Our invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with U.S. empire-building. The effect of Israel's attacks in Gaza are going to be much deadlier because (1) Gaza is essentially one large city; (2) the Palestinian terrorists are not fighting as a uniformed army, according to the Geneva Convention rules; (3) the terrorists are using schools and hospitals to base their attacks from.
I suspect a primary reason the west might choose to keep the conflict "active" is to mask the possibility President Putin/Russia have no desire to take on the burden of trying to control Europe. As long as the conflict is in play, the narrative of Putin wants to rule the world still sells; at least to the fools among us.
Russia raises interest rate again. Russian Central Bank Raises Key Interest Rate To 16% To Counter Inflation
Which Invasion of Iraq are you referring to? Certainly not the first time when Hussein pulled a Putin and invaded Kuwait? That's probably one of thousands of reasons we have such a huge defense budget, we have to prepared for the aggressive actions of dictators. And speaking of nonsense, this whole winning WWII was the worst thing that ever happened to us takes nonsense to a new level...or so I thought until you doubled down with this crap which takes us from the land of nonsense on a fast track to bizarro world.: "I just said it was the worst thing that happened to us, mainly the manner of victory, emerging comparatively unscathed, roughly 8 million people under arms, massive industrial capacity and holding the world's only nuclear weapons. Apparently, according to that line of "reasoning," the US didn't suffer enough during WWII. No US cities irradiated or not enough service men and women killed for your liking? You have to wonder what causes people to go sideways and think like that.
America, we violate international law and norms the correct way. Look at the Middle East, we killed all those people, didnt get any oil, gas prices higher than 2004, and the region is still a mess. Great work! 3 trillion well spent.
Gas prices are cheaper right now (at least, in Florida) compared to 2004, when adjusted for inflation ($3.58). Did that just blow your mind? Gasoline Prices Adjusted for Inflation | US Inflation Calculator Look, I do not dispute that GWB was an idiot and he and his advisors totally mishandled the Iraq War. U.S. presidents from Texas have not been very bright, with the exception of George Bush, Sr. You botch the war plan (or the peace plan), and it will cost more both in dollars and in soldiers killed. Bush and Rumsfeld botched the plans six ways to Sunday. That does not mean we shouldn't have gone to war, or that we should never go to war. GWB and Rumsfeld were arrogant enough to think they knew more than the generals. The second Iraq War was more difficult than the first, because the first was simply defeating an outmatched military in the desert, while the second involved invading Baghdad and managing the immediate aftermath of the war and the fighting between the three factions that GWB didn't know anything about, followed by the proxy insurgent war initiated by Iran that GWB wasn't smart enough to predict (which we fought with both sides using weapons provided by the U.S.). None of that reflects badly on the U.S. (or U.S. policy), except for our ability to select an intelligent president who is capable of selecting an intelligent cabinet.
The U.S. sacrificed a lot to win a war on two opposite sides of the globe that barely affected the U.S., other than the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attacks on our European trading partners. Over 400,000 U.S. troops died in WWII. That's over four times as many as died in the Korean War (36k), the Vietnam War (58k), and both wars in Iraq (5k). The U.S. spent the equivalent of $4 trillion in 2023 dollars on the war--enough to jack up the top tax rate to 94%. Inflation hit 18% in 1946. Federal spending in the middle of the war was 43% of GDP (compared to 7-11% before the war). The U.S. sacrificed plenty for a country that was only attacked once in any major way. I don't understand the whining either. The U.S. helped create organizations like the U.N. to allow peaceful discussion of issues that could lead to war, so those issues could be defused before war breaks out. U.S. policy was also geared towards preventing another country from attempting to take over the world. Competition would be done economically, not through military triumphs, intimidation, or extortion. Most countries agreed to those terms, and most of them became successful without invading other countries. Russia/the USSR did not become successful enough (for their desires), and felt that the occasional military invasion could supplement what success they had economically. Hence the disagreements between the U.S. and Russia historically. I can't fathom why this is so difficult for people to understand.
