Is it time to downsize America’s military budget?

That may seem like a crazy question. We’re still in the middle (or final chapter maybe?) of two ground wars, Afghanistan and Iraq.

But with the Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, in Watertown and our own John McHugh expected to take the Army Secretary post, it’s worth floating the question:

Is our military spending out of whack?

The truth is that the United States doesn’t face a significant traditional military threat.

The conservative Weekly Standard has an article in yesterday’s web edition talking about the collapse of the once-resurgent Russian military.

China — the only other quasi-superpower — lacks the internal stability to compete with the United States militarily. Here’s the NY Times treatment of China’s capabilities:

Its ground forces field 1980s vintage armor and suffer from significant shortcomings in command and control, air defense, logistics, and communications.

Its air force, too, lags behind those of Western powers, though China flies about one hundred top-end Russian Su-27 warplanes and has contracted to purchase newer Su-33s, which are capable of carrier-based operations.

China plans to build aircraft carriers domestically, but currently has none under construction.

Obviously, the pre-eminence of the United States military confers enormous diplomatic and economic benefits.

And no one questions the commitment and sacrifice of our service-members.

But does it make sense that we spend as much on war-preparation as most of the rest of the world combined? Can we afford to spend eight times as much on defense as China?

The U.S. faces budget deficits of epic proportions. With our aging population, we’ll certainly need more resources for things like healthcare.

So what do you think? Stay the course? Or do we turn some of those swords into plowshares?