U.S. aircraft carrier sails through strategic Strait of Hormuz
- Thread starter thelorax
- Start date
It's not just that its a waste of money, but the system has become so bad, no one can propose cutting any military spending due to waste. Any attempt to cut any military spending is deemed unpatriotic, and people who are trying to do that are "soft on defense" or "putting the troops in harms way".
You gotta remember, the spending on that chart is all of the budgeted stuff. The USG is constantly pushing through war supplemental bills (more spending) during the year by adding those appropriation requests onto other bills.
So you might have a bill like SOPA or the NDAA, and someone will sneak $25 billion of military spending in as a line item. That makes it almost impossible for politicians to vote against the host bill because if they do, then they get reamed for not supporting the military and putting the troops in harms way.
The entire system is a mess, and no one except Ron Paul really has the courage to stand up to it.
There is more, like how they try to spread defense jobs to every congressional district, to make those special interests for every congress person to protect.
Related (and sickening)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080401_a_submarine_to_fight_al_qaidas_navy
More from the Telegraph.
Quote: "Another carrier, USS Carl Vinson, has been in the Gulf and the surrounding region for several months. Abraham Lincoln's arrival means a return to the two-carrier deployment that America has retained in the area for many years. Each of these Nimitz class vessels carries a complement of fighter aircraft with more striking power than the entire Iranian air force. Their presence widens the options open to Western governments should Tehran attempt to retaliate for tighter sanctions by harassing international shipping lanes."
I hope this show of force will cause the Iranians to reflect on their likely total destruction if they try anything stupid. However I also hope to god there isn't a war because of the thousands of innocent civilians that will be pasted into the earth, plus the region is unstable enough as it is. On the other hand I'd love to see this insane regime toppled.
Quote: "Another carrier, USS Carl Vinson, has been in the Gulf and the surrounding region for several months. Abraham Lincoln's arrival means a return to the two-carrier deployment that America has retained in the area for many years. Each of these Nimitz class vessels carries a complement of fighter aircraft with more striking power than the entire Iranian air force. Their presence widens the options open to Western governments should Tehran attempt to retaliate for tighter sanctions by harassing international shipping lanes."
I hope this show of force will cause the Iranians to reflect on their likely total destruction if they try anything stupid. However I also hope to god there isn't a war because of the thousands of innocent civilians that will be pasted into the earth, plus the region is unstable enough as it is. On the other hand I'd love to see this insane regime toppled.
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it." -John Lennon
Don't forget, Iran has threatened to use speed boats!
I wish them the best of luck:
At least they got colorful flags. LOL.
If they try anything stupid? WTF?
You mean like, say, supposedly planning out a terror plot, or doing the heinous crime of taking down a spy drone that's in your airspace?
As much as I hate to say this, I have to agree. Looking at the charts you'd thinking the USA could pretty much do whatever it likes, but the USa still has to make deals and pay the pakistanis and uzbeks to use their airspace.
the US has always spent above and beyond anyone else too. Case in point ak47 is very cheap compared to the old school 1990's m16.
And many preferred the ak because it has much better stopping power and psychology more powerful due to it's noise. I met a ex kurdish militant in norway a while back and he told me he used both the m16 and ak as a militant and preferred the ak much much more, it never used to jam and worked every time. He told me the m16 needs to have routine cleaning, which isn't always possible when you're a militant. Certainly no good for desert.
Same is true for pretty much everything else. US pays a lot more than what the russians and chinese would pay for the same equipment.
Of course, but Iranians are not allowed to decide as was seen in the 2009 elections. Here's what happens when ordinary people protest in Iran:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuyf_FwYmoM&feature=related]2009 Iranian Revolution - Riot Police falls into demonstrator hands 14 June - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E5kb0x3NvQ&feature=related]Another video of Riot police shooting at the crowd in Iran - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yQeHUws5hM]another version Iran - Woman shot dead!! Amirabad Tehran 20.06.2009 - YouTube[/ame]
I cannot imagine a worse type of society than a theocracy.
Then it is up to Iranians to have a revolution. It's not our fucking business to decide what type of government they should have.
In a lot of ways a theocracy is superior to a democracy, we just haven't seen the endgame for democracy play out yet.