I HAVE A TANK AND NOWHERE TO PUT IT!

(USA TODAY, GFP Strength in numbers, Los Alamos Study Group)

(Stockholm International Peace Research Center)

(The Guardian, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I’m a dove, of that I’m pretty sure everybody that reads my blog knows, I hate war, conflict, or the act of subterfuge, which the United States seems to practice almost all of the time, and then covers that deception by declaring national securities risks. Ya, ya, I’ve heard about the military budget of the U.S. being more then the next 12 or 14 countries combined…..and I really don’t care, why should I, nobody else seems too.

 

I also know about those people who live by the motto, peace through strength, and what that connotation really means. I may have gotten off the banana boat a few days ago, but it’s for damn sure it wasn’t yesterday. The United States Pentagon, with mostly the blessing of Congress has developed a maze of complex and fragmented information, with hazy amounts for the defense of the United States, her allies, some developing countries, and even some of her enemies.

 

Because of this maze there is no clear path to the bottom line of spending by the Pentagon for the protection and safety of the United States, or her allies. Military retirement, veteran’s benefits and services, payments for past debts incurred and military experimentation and development of war machines.

 

I think that we can all agree that the United States, that would be us…..the taxpayer, spends far more than any country on the face of the planet…..in history. I have blogged in the past about the equipment that our military has, and some that is under development. War has changed since most military leaders were first in involved with making war, conflict, and skirmish plans.

 

I was in the military from 1963-65, that would be close to 48 years ago, and so military advancements would leave me well back in the dust of innovation at the Pentagon. Making war wasn’t quite so easy back in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, it was a lot more messy, blood, guts, brain matter were more pronounced back then.

 

Vietnam cost the United States more than 57,000 casualties, and several hundred thousand wounded and injured that needed long term care. Of course that was an undocumented number of veterans from the war that went untreated, and didn’t collect a penny in benefits. These people simply vanished into the fabric of the country that is an ever expanding war wounded that most people want to ignore, leaving them to their own devices.

 

WHAT BROUGHT THIS SUBJECT UP

Glad you ask that question, and it is germane to what seems to be happening in Syria today. I’m talking about a headline in today’s edition, May, 30, 2013, of the USA TODAY, (SYIRA’S WOUNDS BLEED INTO OTHER NATIONS). It seems that no world power can resist the aspect and potential of a war; they seem to almost gleefully grab a set on the train of war that is traveling happily towards the oblivion that war always causes.

 

 

 

 

Nothing is ever achieved by going to war, political peace talks (should) solve every war, or the prospect of war!  There is always blow-back, there are always after-effects, and with little exception, no country is ever fully prepared for war.

 

Russia lost a bloody assist war effort in Afghanistan, the French lost a war in Vietnam, as did the United States, and left Iraq without securing some sort of victory. And now the U.S. is in the process of losing an occupation war of attrition in Afghanistan. With the exception of the skirmishes that went on in Afghanistan, every other conflict that the U.S. has been in was preemptive.

 

It’s like the old movie Mafia hits, kill everybody cause someday one of the ancestors might take up a weapon and kill ya. It was fun to watch in the gangster movies, it made things exciting to see if a relative survived the killing purge.

 

But now, in 2013, when the United States has stretched that old band-aid war effort almost to a breaking point, it’s for damn sure that I don’t want the blood of the Syrian Civil War to touch the United States in any way, shape, or form, no room at the inn, all full, sorry, try a different country!

 

What is going on in Syria is a Syrian problem, I personally could care less about the Middle East, if Jordan, Lebanon, Russia and Iraq feel the need to join in, go for it. The Sunni and Shiite’s have been going at it for centuries, there used to hating one another. I see absolutely no reason on God’s green earth to stick our noses where it doesn’t belong, if you’d call me an isolationists, fine, happy to meet you…..it’s I guess what I am.

 

HERE’S MY REASONS

Here is a short list of why the United States cannot continue waging war almost on the world, are allies seem to turn into our enemies on a yearly basis. Without a program it’s becoming impossible to keep the players apart…..and really hard to identify the good guys from the bad, cause so many wars are fought against people that don’t wear conventional uniforms. Remember the good old days; a Nazi was a Nazi because of those squiggly insignias on their helmets.

 

Well now, the United States enemy wears what looks like bed-sheets with a bath towel wrapped around their head. Geez, everybody knows a bath towel will not stop a bullet, and a bed sheet absolutely will not act as body armor.

 

The United States spends, currently $682 billion, while the next 14 nations spend $800 billion, kind of ridiculous when one considers that that the next 14 nations, China, Russia, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Canada, and Turkey are more or less our allies.

 

I mean where in hell are we going to put the following pieces of military equipment:

1. Active front line personnel, 1,477,896

2. Tanks, 8,325

3. Self-Propelled guns, 1,934

4. Towed artillery pieces, 1,791

5. Rocket projectors, 1,330

6. Portable mortar systems, 7,500

7. Portable AT weapons, 28,000

8. Logistical vehicles, 106,407

 

Air power:

1. Total aircraft, 15,293

2. Helicopters, 6,665

 

Naval power:

1. Aircraft carriers, 10

2. Frigates, 24

3. Destroyers, 61

4. Submarines, 71

5. Coastal craft, 12

6. Mine warfare, 14

7. Amphibious, 28

 

Logistical:

1. Labor force, 153,600.000

2. Merchant Marine strength, 465

3. Major ports and terminals, 21

4. Roadway coverage, 6,506, 304

5. Railroad coverage, 224,792

6. Serviceable airports, 15,709

 

Financial:

1. Defense budget, $689,591,000,000

2. External debt, $14,710,000,000,000

 

Debits and credits, it’s what accounting is all about, and it seems as if a defense budget  of more than 600 billion with an external debt of…..ah…..wait…..I don’t think that my calculator can compute that second number, so I guess I’ll long hand it, $14,710,000,000,000. I kind of think its 14 trillion 710 billion…..no matter, it’s a boat load of bucks!

 

The two things that scream out to me are the tanks and almost the entire naval strength, how are we ever going to deploy 8,325 tanks, and what good is our naval power when we seem to be fighting in sand dunes. I could go further, armored fighting vehicles, 18,539; 106,407 Logistical Vehicles, I’m not sure that the United States has enough area for close to 125,000 war wagons.

 

And the air force, 15,293 aero planes, what to do with those babies that cost millions of dollars a copy, I mean the last time I checked the people that we are fighting can’t even get a kite off the ground. I do however understand I aspect of our military spending, petroleum products, 18,949,000 barrels a day, we gotta get that from somewhere, and somebody…..sssssssssssssooooooooooo, that’s it, now everything becomes clear to me, we make war to replace the gas and diesel that we use!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY?