If he or any of the politicians need a greater understanding, I would suggest they read the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers which were a series of articles or essays advocating for and against the ratification of the United States Constitution which were written in 1787/8. Every aspect of meaning, interpretation and indented purpose is discussed. All the nonsense that has happened since the Great Depression is the intentional twisting of its meaning through an unbelievably politically motivated contortion -- to the point that it now is ignored or has no meaning. What a Dumb A** --- If they had taught this stuff in our schools the people would have put their foot down on the necks of the politicians long ago.
What pullout? We will leave 75,000 "non-combat" troops in base fortresses to train and rebuild .. just as we have in Iraq. Grow up... we are in the middle of a civil war. We could be fighting for the next 50 years there and never achieve anything more than what we have today.
There is no such thing as defeat, when there is no possibility of winning in the first place. Define what winning really means and what you mean by defeat... We won the war in a few days but, we will lose the occupation of these countries --- because eventually, what is seen as a puppet government will be defeated by its own people. Just as it would if it occurred in the U.S.
Let me see... Was Japan in the middle of a civil war? Was Germany in the middle of a civil war? Hmmmm. How about, the fact that both Germany and Japan were industrialized nations. Or, that neither of them were had a tribal government and social structure. A comparison to Vietnam more closely represents the situation we find ourselves in. None of the current conflicts can be won by military means unless you want to exterminate the entire population of those nations. But, then you really would spark a Jihad.
Bottom line is that future combat systems (Research and Development) are being cut in order to address the cost of current operations. Some of the programs cancelled should have been cancelled (C-17 which was a bad program from the start), other development programs are left over from the Cold War ear but, are continued only because Congressmen want the money going to certain states were the work is being done. Nothing is as it seems when it comes to politics, wars and the taxpayer’s money.
Look at the defense budget. The reason the programs are being cancelled is because of the cost of the wars. He is trying to get another $33 billion supplemental to cover overseas contingency operations (Wars) through the end of this fiscal year (Sept 30) (this is the supplemental that grew 58 billion, not to address the wars – but, to pay off the unions and earmarks). The DoD is diverting dollars from all sorts of programs in order to pay for these Wars. As the wars drag on it has taken its toll on men and equipment. Many of our men are on their third or fourth combat tour – we have deployed much of our national guard (also on third or fourth tours. The equipment has to be replaced and new systems rushed to the field to address evolving threats that are not being addressed with our current systems.
That is easier said, than done. There is no way the Saudis will shut down their air surveillance/defense systems. It is a major deal to make this accommodation within the defense systems -- not easily done without a lot of pre-coordination. The only way this could ever happen is if the Israeli aircraft squawk an agreed upon signal/interrogator. Otherwise, the Saudis would be left without an air defense capability during a major military operation. Even if it is pre-coordinated it would be difficult to maintain security within the Saudi system (for obvious reasons) --- which could result in the enemy using the info to their advantage --- very dangerous!
The Radar shown looks like an air surveillance radar with limited range and capabilities. Its only function would be that of early warning or tripwire. In all probability it would be naturalized or destroyed within minutes of the initiation of the operation or attack. It could also be used as a tool for disinformation by injecting false targets and thus, convincing Iran that the operation/attack has started and forcing a response that would look to the outside world like an attack from Iran. Lots of possibilities as those in power play with fire -- and the people die as a consequence. There is a large concentration of forces gathering in the area of the Persian Gulf, increased tensions and rhetoric – the stage is set for a conflict that could destabilize the political and economic structure of much of the world.
The reason why Ford did so well was because they did not ask for or take Taxpayers money to bail themselves out. I talked to salesmen from several Ford dealerships and they all said that many people buying cars chose a Ford product for this reason.
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