That may seem like a crazy question. We’re still in the middle (or final chapter maybe?) of two ground wars, Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n
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:<\/p>\n
Is our military spending out of whack?<\/p>\n
The truth is that the United States doesn’t face a significant traditional military threat.<\/p>\n
The conservative Weekly Standard has an article in yesterday’s web edition<\/a> talking about the collapse of the once-resurgent Russian military.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n Its ground forces field 1980s vintage armor and suffer from significant shortcomings<\/a> in command and control, air defense, logistics, and communications.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n