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President Trump has proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending, which he said would be "one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history."
Past administrations have increased military spending, but typically to fulfil a specific mission. Jimmy Carter expanded operations in the Persian Gulf. Ronald Reagan pursued an arms race with the Soviet Union, and George W. Bush waged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr. Trump has not articulated a new mission that would require a military spending increase. This has left analysts wondering what goals he has in mind. Erin M. Simpson, a national security consultant, called Mr. Trump's plans "a budget in search of a strategy."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/22/us/is-americas-military-big-enough.html
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What do you think about the proposed increase in military spending ? Does USA really need more weapons ?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by shortscreen on Saturday March 25 2017, @05:25AM
It's telling that the headline asks "how big" and then TFS goes on to talk only about dollars. The military is mainly an excuse to spend money. Being able to run roughshod over other countries is a secondary benefit. For these purposes it can never be big enough.
If we were to pretend that it was for self defense that would be a different story.