Armed to the teeth

[Random Variable]

The following article is an utter distortion of the truth:

Is Bush's awesome increase in military spending a reasonable response to the afermath of September 11, or is he creating a force almost too powerful for its own good?

Among other things, the article talks about how large our naval fleet is, ignoring the fact that it was twice as large in the 1980's.
Oh, and they claim we have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are a mile in length.

I'm just getting really tired of the European media bashing the hell out of us. :frown:

 

[UltraQuiet]

Not to be a dick but someone else posted this about an hour ago.
Link

 

[yobarman]

prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

 

[Random Variable]

<< Not to be a dick but someone else posted this about an hour ago.
Link >>


Whoops! Sorry.

 

[Random Variable]

But I'm too upset to delete what I wrote.

 

[UltraQuiet]

That rag is notoriously anti-american. Read the message boards that are linked to it. Those will really piss you off.

 

[notfred]

The USS Enterprise is 1,123 feet long... a bit less than 1/4 mile.

oh, and it generates over 280,000 horsepower

 

[MacBaine]

Europe = Jealous

 

[tcsenter]

<< That rag is notoriously anti-american. Read the message boards that are linked to it. Those will really piss you off. >>

Most of what is considered 'centrist' news organizations in the UK are notorious anti-American. There are only a small handful that aren't far left-wing.

 

[AndrewR]

Europe = Jealous

Especially about the carriers -- the Brit carriers are tiny, and the French carriers fall apart on their sea trials. LOL!

 

[killmeplease]

The French have carriers?

It's funny they had enough ambition to build such a craft. The failed sea trials sound about right though.

I had friends that helped build Disney in France. Disney had to import Americans because they actually wanted something done. They all came back and said the French "workers" barely had enough ambition to tie their own shoes.

 

[Kilgor]

What most people realize is most of the increase in the military budget isn?t to make the military bigger, but to modernize and improve the infrastructure. For the 8 years Clinton was in office the military was left to wither on the vine. Now we need to fix up the housing buy parts for our equipment and all kinds of other stuff. Bush doesn?t want the US soldier to feel like a second class citizen like they did under the previous administration.

 

[tcsenter]

<< They all came back and said the French "workers" barely had enough ambition to tie their own shoes. >>

haha, a few years back the French labor unions were pressing for a 4 day work week. Without someone opposing them, they would be getting a paycheck for staying at home.

 

[djheater]

My question is where to get legitimate information? Everything that's available is biased, editorialized garbage. I can't watch the news... I get the same feeling from watching the media as I get from watching a show like "Small Wonder"; Embarrasment that it was allowed to be aired.....

 

[AndrewR]

The French have carriers?

Actually, I think they have two operational at the moment -- the Foch and the Clemenceau(sp?). They decided awhile back that they wanted a "super carrier" like the Nimitz-class and went to build themselves a nuclear powered carrier. It's large but not quite as big as the Nimitz. Well, they finally finished last year (with MAJOR cost overruns) and took it out to the Caribbean for sea trials. They fired it up to full speed, and one of the PROPELLERS FELL OFF!! LMAO!! I was laughing myself to tears reading the account of it. It limped back to port and is being repaired.

If anyone wants a job as a naval engineer, I hear they're hiring in France.

 

[XMan]

<< They all came back and said the French "workers" barely had enough ambition to tie their own shoes. >>

haha, a few years back the French labor unions were pressing for a 4 day work week. Without someone opposing them, they would be getting a paycheck for staying at home.

That's insane. The French already have two (or three?) months of paid vacation every year.

 

[freegeeks]

they are waisting your american tax-dollar -- even if the US spent a gazillion dollars every year for defense, my european ass don't cares

That's insane. The French already have two (or three?) months of paid vacation every year.

NOT TRUE -- paid holidays in France are an average of 22 - 24 working days (that's 5 - 6 weeks) that's pretty much the average in the EU.

 

[UltraQuiet]

<< they are waisting your american tax-dollar -- even if the US spent a gazillion dollars every year for defense, my european ass don't cares >>


If anyone thinks that the amount that the US spends on defense does not affect what the rest of the world spends on theirs is very, very naive. If we all operated as equal partners in the UN, NATO, etc. there would be many countries spending a lot less on the social programs you are all so proud of and a lot more on your military. Instead of criticizing, just say "Thank you" and go on about your business.

 

[Random Variable]

The Europeans are saying that we're more powerful militarily than the Roman Empire was 2000 years ago, but at the same time I keep hearing the Department of Defense say that we're lacking in just about every area.

 

[Martin]

Its kinda funny to hear americans saying they need their military modernized.

I mean, here in Canada, Cretin promised to buy some new helicopters in '93 and still nothing has happened. Apperantly Canada's next contribution to any war will be crashing Sea Kings, C130s and other antiquiated equipment into enemy positions :Q

 

[Lucky]

well the DOD is gonna say that no matter what. Hell, rumsfeld kept defending the recent increase by comparing what we spend now to what we spent int he fifties. (~17% vs. ~50% of national budget). The DOD will never be happy. That said, Im glad we are spending more. If nothign else. our troops deserve to be paid better.

 

[Random Variable]

I think that numerous countries (even some of our allies) want the United States to be vulnerable to attack. I just don't understand why they want us to be, though.

 

[Martin]

<< The Europeans are saying that we're more powerful militarily than the Roman Empire was 2000 years ago, but at the same time I keep hearing the Department of Defense say that we're lacking in just about every area. >>




They DoD is lying. Come on! You guys have the largest military and spend close to 400billion/a, which is about 8 times more than Russia which spends about 50B/a and is second after you (my figures might be a bit wrong). The DoD is probably saying that to simply get more funding.

 

[Lucky]

<< I think that numerous countries (even some of our allies) want the United States to be vulnerable to attack. I just don't understand why they want us to be, though. >>




Well historically im unaware of a superpower who singlehandedly dominated the world militarily and economically who didnt use it for its own advantage (often to the detriment of others) at one time or another. Its never in anyone's interest to allow a nation to expand and dominate unchecked. Thats not to say we are or will be using our might in a non-altruistic manner, but we cant predict the future, only look back.

 

[Spagina]

<< What most people realize is most of the increase in the military budget isn?t to make the military bigger, but to modernize and improve the infrastructure. For the 8 years Clinton was in office the military was left to wither on the vine. Now we need to fix up the housing buy parts for our equipment and all kinds of other stuff. Bush doesn?t want the US soldier to feel like a second class citizen like they did under the previous administration. >>



Very true. I knew acouple mechanics that worked in the air force and plus I did a lot of research on the state of the military last year as part of my year-long college research project. The things I discovered would make any average citizen worried about what else Clinton could have possibly done to the military. It was disturbing when I read through all of the reports and observations from serving and retired military personnel.

In the Air Force they usually had to cannibalize many other aircraft for parts because they weren't recieving the budget to buy new ones, and it really pissed off a lot of the mechanics working on them. It created lot's of work for them having to tear good jets to pieces. I'm not going to go through my whole report, but basically Bush will need to spend a lot of money in order to undue all the damage that Clinton did the armed forces.