At a time when the United States is running a massive Federal deficit and borrowing vast sums of money from China and other (mostly East Asian) countries there is apparently no room to even reduce the rate of growth in its military budget – which equals nearly as much as all other military spending on planet Earth combined. This is not according to the average US tax payer (who supports slashing military spending) but to former US Vice President and leading neo-conservative Dick Cheney and his pals at Lockheed-Martin (which is easily the number one corporate recipient of US tax payers’ money). John Glaser at Antiwar.com has the report on the latest efforts by the War Party to prevent the scheduled minor cuts in militarist spending, which are being played up on Fox News and in the Neo-con media as draconian slashes that will leave the US vulnerable to foreign attacks. In reality, of course, the US could simply shut down some of its more than 1,000 foreign military bases which ring the planet or end the on-going wars and occupations in the Middle East. Glaser writes:
Chief executives from Lockheed Martin Corporation have predicted they may have to fire 10,000 workers if sequestration budget cuts are forced on Congress, but prophecies of economic doom if defense spending is cut aren’t up to snuff.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, shilling for the military industry as usual, spoke at a private meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday and predicted possible cuts totaling $500 billion over 10 years could be “devastating” to military modernization and planning. Even if that were true, which it isn’t, he failed to explain why that would be a bad thing.
The military-industrial-congressional complex has been very active in recent weeks, lobbying hard to maintain current spending levels and projections. They fear-monger about devastating cuts, but all that’s even being considered are minor decreases in the rate of growth of defense spending. No actual “cuts” are even on the table.
Southern nationalists worry about more of our young people being sent abroad and put in harm’s way in the various US military conflicts that never benefit the South and have nothing to do with actual defense. Going abroad in search of dragons to slay (to ‘make the world safe for democracy’ or for some other idealistic fantasy) is dangerous and alien to the outlook of the traditional South. None of our soldiers should ever be asked to fight for foreign nations. None of our money should ever be given to foreign armies, governments or to prop up US bases in foreign countries. In a free South based on the traditional, Jeffersonian principles of the Southern people, our military would be large enough to deter and prevent foreign invasions. The Southern man is a superb and natural fighter and it is doubtful any foreign power would wish to tangle with us. That said, a free South based on our traditional principles would not have troops stationed around the planet, fight in never-ending wars in distant Third World countries or hand out billions to foreign regimes as bribe money. The current US foreign policy is nearly the exact opposite of the foreign policy of a free South envisioned by most Southern nationalists.
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