[fintstone]

Originally posted by jyl
I guess your rose-colored glasses are firmly glued on. You are probably working on an argument that Bush's loss of the House and Senate was equally "brilliant". I actually can't recall anything controversial he's done that you haven't proclaimed brilliant...

So what exactly has he done that wasn't brilliant?

Originally posted by jyl
...He helped create the problem that he then failed to solve. As Sec'y of Def, he was central to the decision and planning of the war...

The war with Iraq and Afghanistan were both planned and executed brilliantly. It was not Rumsfeld's decision to stay in either country or to dissolve the Iraqi military after the war. Blame the State Department. They are the nation-builders that made the pottery barn decision and then, along with Paul Bremmer, completely dorked up the country. The liberal support of the terrorists in the US didn't help either.

Originally posted by jyl
...Compared to the WWII and Cold War periods, you are correct. Of course, today there is no Germany or USSR competing with us for global military domination. The runner-up, China, spends 1/7th our level. But if we need to spend more, we can do so...

Compared to anytime in the last 60 years, spending as a percentage od GDP is quite low...especially for wartime. Even as compared to recent periods such as as the previous (Clinton) administration. The cost of the global war on islamic extremism and terrorism is certainly necessary. As far as China...they already spend a greater percentage of GDP on defense than we do...and they are not even at war. The only reason we spend more is because we still have more (GDP) to spend.

Originally posted by jyl
...Rumsfeld opposed efforts to increase the troop strength in Iraq, both in the initial invasion and throughout the occupation. He also opposed Congressional efforts to increase the authorized size of the military. He was worried that feeding 50K more soldiers would take money away from his high-tech programs...

The simple fact is...there are no more troops to send.

Originally posted by jyl
...Have I decried military spending? I don't see that.

From your last post:
quote:
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Originally posted by jyl
...To those who say the US won't support big spending on the military - look at the military spending over the past several years. How can it not be called "big"? The country is willing to spend on, and support, the military....
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