by Amy Frykholm
When I saw this article in the New York Times a couple of days ago, I blinked. Did I just read that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was advocating cutting spending on military planes? Was the secretary actually before Congress arguing that his own funding be cut? Was I in the twilight zone?
For decades, the Century’s editorials have criticized extraneous, gargantuan, useless and meaningless defense spending. Not that anyone was listening. In March of this year, the Century’s editors argued that the F-22 bombers, though politically tricky, were a militarily useless waste of billions of dollars. Now the secretary of defense argues the same—along with endorsing the view that more money is needed for diplomacy.
I realize 187 F-22 planes have already been built and are soon to be delivered. Congress and the president are squabbling about a measly seven more, but, in my world, $1.75 billion is still a lot of money, and I am glad that someone is willing to fight about it. I just didn’t expect that person to be the secretary of defense.
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3 comments:
To be fair to Robert Gates, he and Pentagon chiefs have said for many months (as did John McCain) that buying more F-22s would be a waste of money for strategic reasons. They wanted other weapons suitable for today's fighting and conflicts.
Diverting that money to Diplomatic efforts seems reasonable as well. I don't see any inconsistency with slashing our military budget and Biblical Christianity.
It is reported that there is a thin film of ice on hell. Amazing!
Tom
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