FDL: Obama’s Pentagon Strategy: A Leaner, More Efficient Empire

[JackRiddler]

25. There's downsizing and then there's "downsizing"

Just like there's banking regulation and "regulation." The difference with the cosmetic "regulation" is that the next crash happens anyway.

The difference with the PR downsizing of the military as opposed to the real thing is that the next war happens anyway.

The Pentagon remains sacrosanct. This "cut" is actually an increase in absolute terms. Obama underlined in his speech that the Pentagon budget will remain higher than in 2008, and that's not counting war spending. Cutting back on future planned spending is not an actual cut. (Example: I spend 100. In two years I plan to spend 120. But wait, I'm going to cut that. In two years I will spend only 110. That's a cut!)

Panetta gave you a laughable two-war scenario: Why should we ever want such a thing?! How in the world do you believe "US security" would ever necessitate wars with both of these nations on the other side of the globe? That's not a question of security, it's a question of empire and the drive to be the one who settles all major questions for everyone.

The countries he's talking about taking on simultaneously are not coincidentally the two remaining targets in Bush's "Axis of Evil." This is how the US military-industrial complex works. It's independent of administrations.