Why Do People Claim "The U.S. Can't Afford Another War"?

[Flopper]

The US fought about 30 actually wars as well as participating in hundreds of military engagements. Unfortunately, there's always enough money for one more.

 

[Indeependent]

The US can afford anything that occurs outside it's national borders but can't afford to fix a traffic light within it's borders.
It's the hypocrisy and the pilfering.

Are traffic lights normally a federal govt. problem?

According to my congressman, yes.
It's called an earmark.

 

[Londoner]

The OP's question is too broad.

War is worth the cost when there is a justifiable reason for its undertaking.

People had war fatigue over Iraq because it seemed like an open ended quagmire that was devolving into a terminal occupation with no clear political solution. This is why Chaney and Bush 41 didn't take Bagdad in Gulf 1 - because they understood the difference between stopping aggression and occupying a country.

A reasonable question arose from the Bush 43 way of War: is Washington competent enough to engage in nation building? Can Washington stabilize a disjointed nation that lacks any kind of internal cultural glue or is it just pouring our money down a black hole? These Iraqi tribes have been fighting for over a century, and they will return to fighting the minute we leave. Perhaps the OP trusts Washington to save the world and turn Iraq into a modern western democracy, but the rest of us believe in the law of unintended consequences. We think there are limits to solutions conceived in Washington and imposed from afar.

The OP doesn't get it. Some of us have a problem trusting in Washington's ability to rebuild an Arab nation so that it behaves exactly how we want it to behave. It would be great if we could end evil and get every Muslim to love us and save the world with shiny freedom bombs, but Washington's power has limits, and the American taxpayer is sick of paying for military adventures that turn into endless quagmires that inspire yet another generation of terrorists.

Regardless, we know the OP trusts Washington, and we know he and his party are going to continue trying to bankrupt us. Does this mean all war is a waste? Nope. It only means that there are limits to what Washington can achieve militarily.

(Psst: Don't tell the OP that I said Washington has limits. Republicans simply cannot imagine that there are limits to government power and competence)

The OP should turn off FOX News and take some more college courses. He should study the trajectory of all superpowers and empires. They eventually accumulate too many global assets and are too spread out, and they learn that controlling the globe is beyond their competence and budget. They typically learn this lesson too late because people like the OP are brainwashed cheerleaders of government power - and they shout the rest of us down, as we march from one quagmire to another with no clear objective.

Of course, the OP will never learn the lesson that comes form over-trusting Washington because he has a near religious faith in the power and competence of Washington. This is why Reagan's slice of the Cold War did more to grow the power and budget of Washington than anything LBJ could have ever dreamed up.

OP is advised to turn off FOX News and get hi'self to a library, stat.

Yawn

 

[Vandalshandle]

I am thinking that the Tahitians are getting pretty uppity. I think it is time to teach them a lesson.

 

[Londoner]

And what about Grenada? I hear they're reconstituting their nutmeg bomb that Reagan was so worried about.

 

[Kosh]

And what about Grenada? I hear they're reconstituting their nutmeg bomb that Reagan was so worried about.

Guess Kennedy's and LBJ's mass escalation of Vietnam will get ignored by the far left..

Or that FDR lied the US into the second world war and attacked a country that did not threaten the US.

But hey who cares as long as you can blame someone with an (R) next to their name right?

 

[Dayton3]

OP is advised to turn off FOX News and get hi'self to a library, stat.

Yawn

I'm a history teacher.

Have been for a decade.

 

[Londoner]

And what about Grenada? I hear they're reconstituting their nutmeg bomb that Reagan was so worried about.

Guess Kennedy's and LBJ's mass escalation of Vietnam will get ignored by the far left..

False.

The anti-war Left lead the revolt against LBJ, who didn't run for a second term partly because he lost the support of his own party.

"Hey, Hey LBJ How Many Kids Did you Kill Today?"

Can you imagine the modern rightwing base rebelling against a sitting Republican President during a time of war? People still won't speak out against Bush 43 RE Iraq. For a party of fiercely independent voters who don't trust Washington, you guys are extremely obedient to your leaders.

(Wow, just wow)

 

[Londoner]

OP is advised to turn off FOX News and get hi'self to a library, stat.

Yawn

I'm a history teacher.

Have been for a decade.

My bad. Confused you with someone else.

 

[Kosh]

And what about Grenada? I hear they're reconstituting their nutmeg bomb that Reagan was so worried about.

Guess Kennedy's and LBJ's mass escalation of Vietnam will get ignored by the far left..

False.

The anti-war Left lead the revolt against LBJ, who didn't run for a second term partly because he lost the support of his own party.

"Hey, Hey LBJ How Many Kids Did you Kill Today?"

Can you imagine the modern rightwing base rebelling against a sitting Republican President during a time of war? People still won't speak out against Bush 43 RE Iraq. For a party of fiercely independent voters who don't trust Washington, you guys are extremely obedient to your leaders.

(Wow, just wow)

Once again the far left will do all it can to rewrite history..

He lost because of his own paranoia that stemmed from the Catholics that might vote him out of office..

LBJ left office in 1963 the far left did not start their true protests until 1965, using collages as their front lines..

But then again who expects the far left to know accurate history and not the far left version of history..

 

[AntiParty]

A common refrain from those opposing U.S. military action overseas such as Syria, Iraq and elsewhere is that "The U.S. can't afford another war".

And they are invariably talking about financially as they often add "we're broke" or refer to the deficit and/or national debt.

Come on.

Do people really believe that if Iran seized control of the Straits of Hormuz or North Korea launched a massive attack across the DMZ that the U.S. would have to throw up its hands and accept it because we "can't afford it".

In World War Two, the U.S. spent many times the percentage of GDP it does now on the military and did for fully 4 years.

Generally people are talking about UNNECESSARY and/or mistake wars. We can CERTAINLY afford necessary wars if we stop the Military Industrial Complex from driving America into unnecessary wars.

While America tries to cut food stamps to the blind and cut PBS it won't make much of a difference. PBS costs in one year what Iraq costs in 1 day.

U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

 

[Vandalshandle]

Guess Kennedy's and LBJ's mass escalation of Vietnam will get ignored by the far left..

False.

The anti-war Left lead the revolt against LBJ, who didn't run for a second term partly because he lost the support of his own party.

"Hey, Hey LBJ How Many Kids Did you Kill Today?"

Can you imagine the modern rightwing base rebelling against a sitting Republican President during a time of war? People still won't speak out against Bush 43 RE Iraq. For a party of fiercely independent voters who don't trust Washington, you guys are extremely obedient to your leaders.

(Wow, just wow)

Once again the far left will do all it can to rewrite history..

He lost because of his own paranoia that stemmed from the Catholics that might vote him out of office..

LBJ left office in 1963 the far left did not start their true protests until 1965, using collages as their front lines..

But then again who expects the far left to know accurate history and not the far left version of history..

I can't help but wonder... Are you smoking Panama Red, or Jamaican Blast...?

 

[BlindBoo]

Fact is the majority voting in the House against new strikes in the ME (Syria and Libya) were Republican.

Have the brought up a resolution supporting action against ISIS?