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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANuARY 4, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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Publisher
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Editor
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PRO-CON
Should the US increase military spending
to keep pace with Russia and China?
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy
The USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials in 2017 from Newport News, Va.
PRO: We need to beef up our
military — and then some
W
ASHINGTON — Beer, pizza
And, for sure, defense spending ought
and defense. Americans spend
to be efficient and efficacious. That’s a
more on each of these than any-
standard that should apply across all of our
one else. So what? These facts say nothing
government. Our elected officials and pub-
lic servants should be good stewards for
about how happy, healthy or safe we are.
the American taxpayer — period.
They are meaningless without context.
Perhaps Americans could do with fewer
Adding all that context together, where
jumbo slices and more gym memberships.
are we on defense spending? The answer
But when it comes to defense spending,
is: We are short of where we need to be.
America needs to spend more, not less.
Five years ago, my colleagues at The
For starters, comparing our defense
Heritage Foundation developed the Index
spending to that of other nations doesn’t
of US Military Strength.
make much sense.
Our analysts established an objec-
tive, nonpartisan measure of defense suf-
Walmart has more than 2 million
ficiency that graded how much military
employees. The average small business has
power America actually has in terms of
fewer than 100. Does that mean Walmart’s
manpower, readiness and weaponry; what
payroll is out of whack? Of course not.
The U.S. is a global power, with
the armed forces are required to
global responsibilities and global
do; and what the world was like
economic interests to defend. We
— the actual threats that must be
need a defense budget commensu-
addressed.
rate with those responsibilities and
Our latest analysis concludes
interests, not with other nations’
that, after years of over-use and
lesser global posture.
under-funding, the U.S. mili-
JAMES JAY
tary is only marginally prepared to
Abandoning our responsibilities
CARAFANO
and interests is not a viable option.
fight and win in a two-conflict sce-
nario (the standard benchmark for a
Europe can’t defend Europe without
global power).
us — that’s why we have NATO. President
Scrimping on training has resulted in
Barack Obama tried walking away from
low readiness levels.
the Middle East — only to see ISIS and
Air Force pilots, for example, fly only a
Iran start to take over. Does anyone think
fraction of the training hours they used to.
turning Asia over to China is a good idea?
No, the U.S. neither can nor should
The force isn’t big enough.
be the world’s policeman. Nor is it our
The Navy, for instance, was unable —
responsibility to ensure all these places are
for the first time in a long time — to send
the land of milk and honey.
an aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean to
But we do need to worry about big,
cover the Middle East.
destabilizing problems — things like wars
And the force isn’t modernizing fast
and nuclear attack, that can spread untold
enough. Marines are still driving combat
misery around the world, to us and our
vehicles built in 1972 — vehicles older
friends included.
than their drivers’ parents.
Nor should a particular foreign policy
America’s competitors can count. They
dictate the size of the Pentagon’s budget.
see that our armed forces are too small and
The wisdom of staying in Afghani-
ill-prepared to take on two regional powers
stan or hunting down terrorists in Africa
simultaneously. They know that if America
can be debated. Still, in the end, the mis-
doesn’t rebuild soon, they can soon match
sions don’t tell you how big a military is
us in their part of the world.
required.
That’s a dangerous situation — with
That would be like picking the size of
consequences far more costly than paying
a fire department based on which fires you
for an adequate national defense.
want to fight. A fire department has to be
James Jay Carafano is an Army veteran
big enough to protect the community. The
and vice president for national security
armed forces need to be big enough to
and foreign policy at the Heritage Founda-
tion think tank.
defend the U.S. and its vital interests.
CON: US military expenditures
already dwarf our top rivals
OLUMBUS, Ohio — We do not
in initiatives they find important to pre-
serving world security. We perplex our
need to increase military spend-
ing to deal with Russia or China.
friends by actions like relocating our
embassy to Jerusalem, or repudiating the
The 2019 military budget, authorized by
climate treaty and the nuclear arrange-
Congress, stands at $716 billion. That’s
ment with Iran.
“billion” with a “b.”
We are separating ourselves from the
That figure dwarfs expenditures by
world community. We are pulling out of
China and Russia. China spends $175
treaties that call for resolving disputes
billion a year. Russia, whose economy
peacefully, in the International Court of
is lagging badly, has cut military expen-
diture in the past two years, and is now
Justice.
under $60 billion.
When Palestine sued us, as it did
Our competition with China is eco-
recently, over the relocation of our
nomic, not military. The only arena for
embassy to Jerusalem, we overreacted.
military conflict is the South China Sea,
Palestine was able to get the case
but we don’t need a beefed up military
into the International Court of Justice
for that purpose.
because both Palestine and the United
In any event, we overplay
States are party to a multilateral
the importance of the South
diplomatic relations treaty that
lets states sue for violations of the
China Sea to U.S. trade or other
law on diplomatic relations.
interests.
Seventy-one states of the world
With Russia, our competi-
tion is political, not military. We
are parties. Instead of just dealing
with the lawsuit, the White House
have put Russia in fear by mov-
JOHN B.
ing NATO into its backyard. That
announced that we will pull out
QUIGLEY
has generated reaction from Rus-
of the treaty altogether. That is
sia. There is much we could do to
the same treaty that let us sue Iran
when our people were taken hostage at
ease tensions.
the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979.
Rather than spend more for military,
We should be protecting peaceful
we should examine current expenditures.
avenues to resolve disputes, not cutting
We waste billions. We are building a new
them off. We should not fear application
class of aircraft carrier for the Navy with
of universally agreed legal principles.
little assurance of quality.
Military confrontation with either
The nuclear-powered USS Gerald R.
Russia or China is unlikely. If a serious
Ford, the first carrier in this new class, is
confrontation were to come to pass, how-
costing $13 billion. Now close to being
ever, a U.S. president needs to have suf-
online, it is experiencing what the Pen-
tagon gingerly calls “manufacturing
ficient credibility to be able to convince
defect” issues.
allies to assist, even if some of their peo-
ple would die in the effort.
It has an untried digital propulsion
Now we have little assurance of a
system that seems not to work. Carri-
ers of this size, moreover, have been
response we might get. Our allies deal
shown in war games to be vulnerable to
with Trump by appealing to his ego.
anti-ship weaponry that has grown more
They do not regard him as a reliable
sophisticated in recent years. So even if
partner. They doubt his judgment, and
the Navy can get the USS Gerald R. Ford
even his truthfulness.
to sail, it may not serve its purpose. And
Security lies in being able to mobi-
lize support from other countries in a cri-
the Navy wants three more.
sis situation. We have enough weaponry.
If our security in the world is in jeop-
ardy, it is not for lack of military hard-
Spending more on weapons is a short-
ware. It is because of our policies.
sighted avenue to national security.
Our allies don’t know what to expect
John B. Quigley is a professor of law
at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio
from us. They are aghast at President
Donald Trump’s refusal to participate
State university.
C