But it’s hard to support a case that the U.S. is spending too much to defend the global order that it built after the Second World War. The U.S., Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Australia—the rich inner circle of what used to be called the Free World—today constitute almost sixty per cent of the world’s economy. According to the World Bank, in 2014 the U.S. spent about three and a half per cent of its G.D.P. on the military. That’s down from more than five per cent during the late Cold War. As an investment in shared prosperity (or, if you prefer, global hegemony), the running cost of American military power may be one of history’s better bargains.
.. It would be better if those allies spent a little more, but it’s not obvious that America’s forthcoming global challenges—such as managing China’s rise and Russia’s revanchism—would be advanced by more German and Japanese militarism. Because the U.S. military is so much larger and more effective than any other, and because militaries are so hierarchical, it is more efficient to defend the core alliances disproportionately, from Washington. In any event, defense treaties among democratic societies are really compacts among peoples, through their elected governments, to sacrifice and even die for one another if circumstances require it. Demeaning those commitments as if they were transactional protection rackets is corrosive and self-defeating.
.. Saudi Arabia already devotes about a tenth of its G.D.P. to defense, one of the highest rates in the world.
.. As Pericles reportedly said of an Athenian empire, “It may have been wrong to take it; it is certainly dangerous to let it go.”
.. We do need to rebuild bridges, airports, railways, and telecommunications. But defense spending isn’t stopping us from doing so; the problem is the Republican anti-tax extremists in Congress, who refuse to either raise revenues or take advantage of historically low long-term interest rates.
Max Boot on Permanent Iraq Presense
Boot vigorously supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 2007 surge.[4] He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in April 2011 arguing that it is “in America’s Interest to Stay in Iraq” because
[h]aving active bases would allow us to project power and influence in the region.[34]
.. Boot supports what he calls American imperialism based on nation building and the pursuit of spreading democracy across the non-Western world. He sees this as the only way to prevent another event like the 9/11 attacks. He has written, “[u]nlike 19th-century European colonialists, we would not aim to impose our rule permanently. Instead… occupation would be a temporary expedient to allow the people to get back on their feet”.[36] He advocates creating a formal Department of Peace alongside the currentDepartment of Defense to promote democracy building abroad.[25] He later stated in an interview that he thinks most Americans feel uncomfortable with being called an ’empire’, but that they would be willing to act like one regardless.[37] He has said that he believes the U.S. must act as a world police agency since “[t]here is nobody else out there”.[25]
Trump’s Political Philosophy: I Win, You Lose
To put this in perspective, Trump is now proposing a larger troop deployment than any other candidate has endorsed — not even the “neocon” Marco Rubio wants that many boots on the ground. And yet virtually no one seems to have noticed this apparently startling reversal. Why? Because Trump’s supporters don’t even believe anything he says about policy at this point. Keeping up with the substance of his ever-shifting pronouncements has exhausted the most dogged observers to the point that all anyone can do is marvel at his cult of personality.
.. But the Republican front-runner isn’t a Jacksonian populist. He’s a Trumpian Trumpulist. And his motto is “always be closing.” Weeks ago, when he declared that he could shoot a person on Fifth Avenue and not lose votes, he was signaling that he’d closed the deal with his base. He had their support sewed up, and now it was time to pivot back toward the center in search of the next deal. Because closers close.
Social-justice warriors taught us long ago that truth matters less than narrative, and millions of Americans have now piped up on cue to prove the point. The narrative they crave is chillingly simple — I win, you lose. It’s all will to power now.
.. Last week, after Mitt Romney laid out a point-by-point case detailing Trump’s business failures and his flawed policies, the response wasn’t a defense of Trump but rather insults such as, “Establishment!” or “Where was that passion against Obama?”
.. So get ready, Trump fans, to lose everything in a general election — everything except maybe victory. Trump is a closer. He’s closed on you. Now he’s got a bigger deal in his sights.
Ex-CIA Chief: Armed Forces would have to disobey Trump Torture Orders
Referring to Trump’s suggestion to torture suspected terrorists and kill their families, Gen. Michael Hayden told TV host Bill Maher, “If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act.”
“You’re required not to follow an unlawful order. That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict,” Hayden said. “I would be incredibly concerned if a President Trump governed in a way that was consistent with the language candidate Trump expressed during the campaign.”