We spend the most, because we have the most to spend. A better measure of military spending can be found by breaking down the total expenditure as a percentage of GDP. When you do that, the US is only the 4th highest.

They spend “sanely” yet aren’t properly equipped to fight the conflicts they’re in?

No, they don’t think twice. Perhaps you missed when ISIS dropped a Russian airliner out-of-the-sky with a bomb over Sinai? In fact, I’m pretty sure ISIS has killed more Russian civilians than they have Americans in attacks.

Sorry, but you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.

“Sucks to suck.”

I think a handful of these aircraft would fit in nicely with the “prompt global strike” (PGS) program, which will give the DoD the ability to hit any target anywhere in the world within 1 hour of the order from the President.

And make sure the reset button actually says “overcharge” in Cyrillic instead of “reset”.

Is it your assertion the Iraqi army performed well during the Iran/Iraq war?

You can train someone how to fight, but no amount of training will give them the will to fight. Iraq/Syria are fractured entities of warring sects/tribes with little national identity. Trying to organize these groups into an effective, cohesive, and collective force, is damn near impossible. This is one of the reasons…

Exactly. This is the same country that tried to make a wooden submarine, and were shocked (shocked!) when it didn’t work.

Something big is going down. I’m hearing Italy (seriously) has drawn up Libyan invasion plans, and is currently trying to figure out which government to negotiate a SOFA with, along with the US/EU/NATO.

Who in any real position to influence battle plans was advocating for “nuclear weapon” deployments in Afghanistan?

Like the “special expeditionary targeting force” deployed to Syria a few months back?

Oh yeah, it’s happening, and in more places than just Iraq/Syria.

To the Iraqi Sunnis— it was all about perception. We were not only the moderators, but had significant leverage with the Shi’a dominated government to ensure Sunni inclusion in Baghdad. Our continued presence gave the Sunnis the security they needed to turn on AQI, and restore order to their territory. Once the…

You’re missing the problem.

Try again...

I have no idea where you’re getting your tactical/strategical information and opinions from, but wherever it is, you should stop using it to make assertions, because it’s flatly wrong.

This isn’t a fight we can win with 375,000 troops. Just like during OIF, a massive US presence will only lead to resentment amongst the population— resentment that can, and will be hijacked by jihadi groups to drive an insurgency.

“To be fair, Obama was abiding by Bush’s Status of Forces Agreement. But he also made no real effort to renegotiate that agreement, which he had every right to do.”