The immense ignorance (I don't mean this as necessarily pejorative) of the American Public in regards to basic facts is nothing new (see Iraq was behind 9/11). But even by the jaded standards of willfull disbelief we've come to expect, this week's Gallup polling numbers on the public perception of the military is unusual. 50% of Americans think that the United States does NOT have the world's number one military. The United States spends more on its military than EVERY other nation on the planet combined. So, either our military spending is as wasteful as our health care spending, or something is seriously amiss in the public's perception of the military's power.
Certainly, the amount of money spent on anything is not inherently a guarantor of quality, but by every reasonable measure of military effectiveness, competence, technology, capability and strength the United States is at or near the top. Russia is a shell of its "Evil Empire" days and China is still decades away from challenging the United States in terms of physical capabilities (cyber-warfare is another question). Is the US Military perfect? No. Is it tired and somewhat demoralized by 12 years of the War on Terror? Certainly. Is it the number one fighting force in the world right now, without question.
As recently as January 2010, 73% of Republicans said the US military was the strongest in the world. That this number now stands at 53% is a testament to their mistrust of President Obama. The last time the perception of the US military was this low was in 1999 in the wake of the frustratingly prolonged bombing of Serbia over Kosovo and 8 years of ineffectively maintaining a no-fly zone over Iraq. It would seem then, that the withdrawal of US combat troops from Afghanistan and Iraq with little to show for either decade-long adventure has affected perception of the military's overall competence. Relative decline or (at best) half-successes that have more to do with poor political decision making by civilians does not, in any way, lead to the United States not being top of the heap when it comes to its armed forces. Because the military cannot do everything doesn't mean it can't do anything.
It is a recurring theme in American politics. Democratic Politicians study facts and create policy based on facts while ignoring the emotion and understanding of Americans. Republican Politicians are excellent at forming narratives which invalidate facts in the minds of the public allowing them to take positions that seem, to many outside observers, to be completely at odds with reality. Given the new battle over the budget these numbers have to be heartening to Republicans (and Democrats with large amounts of military pork directed to their districts). So when (some) Democrats say there has to be massive cuts to the military and Republicans (and some Democrats) complain that doing so endangers the nation, it becomes something that has become increasingly rare, an issue on which the Republicans have the more popular opinion.
Proceed with caution Mr. Obama, going after the truly wasteful spending in the Defense Department (and there is a lot of it) is a minefield. One of the perceived benefits of selecting Chuck Hegel was supposed to be his ability to deal with his former Republican colleagues in the Senate. Instead, their personal grudge against him for turning on the Iraq War has negated that potential advantage. In order to seriously address the United States' huge budget problem we will need cuts to the military as well as revenue increases and cuts to social programs. Today's numbers from Gallup only make that even more difficult
Certainly, the amount of money spent on anything is not inherently a guarantor of quality, but by every reasonable measure of military effectiveness, competence, technology, capability and strength the United States is at or near the top. Russia is a shell of its "Evil Empire" days and China is still decades away from challenging the United States in terms of physical capabilities (cyber-warfare is another question). Is the US Military perfect? No. Is it tired and somewhat demoralized by 12 years of the War on Terror? Certainly. Is it the number one fighting force in the world right now, without question.
As recently as January 2010, 73% of Republicans said the US military was the strongest in the world. That this number now stands at 53% is a testament to their mistrust of President Obama. The last time the perception of the US military was this low was in 1999 in the wake of the frustratingly prolonged bombing of Serbia over Kosovo and 8 years of ineffectively maintaining a no-fly zone over Iraq. It would seem then, that the withdrawal of US combat troops from Afghanistan and Iraq with little to show for either decade-long adventure has affected perception of the military's overall competence. Relative decline or (at best) half-successes that have more to do with poor political decision making by civilians does not, in any way, lead to the United States not being top of the heap when it comes to its armed forces. Because the military cannot do everything doesn't mean it can't do anything.
It is a recurring theme in American politics. Democratic Politicians study facts and create policy based on facts while ignoring the emotion and understanding of Americans. Republican Politicians are excellent at forming narratives which invalidate facts in the minds of the public allowing them to take positions that seem, to many outside observers, to be completely at odds with reality. Given the new battle over the budget these numbers have to be heartening to Republicans (and Democrats with large amounts of military pork directed to their districts). So when (some) Democrats say there has to be massive cuts to the military and Republicans (and some Democrats) complain that doing so endangers the nation, it becomes something that has become increasingly rare, an issue on which the Republicans have the more popular opinion.
Proceed with caution Mr. Obama, going after the truly wasteful spending in the Defense Department (and there is a lot of it) is a minefield. One of the perceived benefits of selecting Chuck Hegel was supposed to be his ability to deal with his former Republican colleagues in the Senate. Instead, their personal grudge against him for turning on the Iraq War has negated that potential advantage. In order to seriously address the United States' huge budget problem we will need cuts to the military as well as revenue increases and cuts to social programs. Today's numbers from Gallup only make that even more difficult
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