A declining power displays grace not defiance

General Dwight Eisenhower who won the war against tyranny for the Europeans and perhaps the world, was humble enough to forgo taking a victory lap in favor of doing something else.

 

What the General did was warn against the American military industrial complex getting so greedy that it might develop a powerful influence inside the Pentagon and State Department, thus cause the kind of trouble for America and the world that must never happen.

 

Now, almost three quarters of a century later, Eisenhower’s warning seems to have faded away, drowned by the loud voices that urge the American governing elites to make the military industrial complex the supreme oracle whose wishes will always be honored, and whose dictates will always be obeyed.

 

A clear example of that is the article that came under the title: “Drills, drones and deterrence,” and the subtitle: “We are rapidly running out of time to rebuild our miliary.” It was written by Jed Babbin and published on October 21, 2022 in The Washington Times.

 

What the article shows is how the war mongering hawks latch on to what is said that may be innocent, distort the intent of what’s advocated, and piggyback on the contortion of their making to lobby for the military industrial complex, disguised as lambs when in reality they are hungry wolves on the prowl.

 

Here is the observation that was made by innocent eyes, but that Jed Babbin utilized to build on, and lobby for the militarization of America:

 

“A recent study by the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said: “Today’s Air Force is smaller, older and less ready [to fight] than it has ever been. It lacks the ability to fight a peer conflict, deter elsewhere and defend the homeland as required by the National Defense Strategy”.

 

It must be noted that the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies was founded by the dovish Senator George Mitchell whose intent was to encourage young people to get a college education, an endeavor that was funded and continues to be funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

And here is how Jed Babbin used what was said by others to build on, and get to where he intended to go without making the necessary mental effort to put together a sound argument that would construct a convincing case and sell his pet project to the elites in the Washington corridors of power:

 

“The Navy’s picture is just as ugly. Our fleet now consists of 295 ships, and needs 530 ships to meet its mission requirements. The Army and the Marines can’t be in better shape. That’s plenty bad enough, but our operational doctrine apparently does not include basic force protection”.

 

As if to cement those views, Jerry Hendrix who is a fellow at the Sagamore Institute of religious fanaticism, came out the next day – October 22, 2022 – and added his voice to that of Jed Babbin with an article that came under the title: “The United States Is in a Coffin Corner,” and the subtitle: “The US faces a window of strategic vulnerability unlike any it has experienced in the past two generations.” The article was published in National Review Online.

 

Whereas Jed Babbin used what was said by others to build on and make his case, Jerry Hendrix did not have to do likewise because the giant of the military industrial complex itself expressed the will of the oracle this time. What follows is how Hendrix first put it, shown here in condensed form:

 

“The Heritage Foundation released its annual Index of US Military Strength. It rated the US military as ‘weak, charging that the forces are under-strength, under-trained, and under-funded, and thus are not ready to meet the current challenges of competition. Heritage highlighted in particular the small size and poor material condition of the US Navy and Air Force, which will be critical in facing a potential conflict in the Asia–Pacific region”.

 

And here is what Hendrix said has followed those events:

 

“Following on the heels of Heritage study came the earnings report of the Lockheed-Martin corporation. In it, Lockheed CEO reported that the company had expanded its efforts to produce more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System missile launchers. Twenty of them have already been sent to Ukraine, and another 18 have been promised to that nation, draining US stocks of these launchers. Support for Ukraine has also drawn down the nation’s supplies of the Javelin anti-tank weapon and large-caliber artillery rounds. The implication of Lockheed’s report is that it will take years for the US to restore its inventories of these weapons. The takeaway is that supplies of the weapons central to the American way of war, are low, and the nation no longer has the robust defense-industrial base that can rapidly replenish them”.

 

Now, my friend, imagine how many trillions of dollars it will take to increase the number of warships in the American navy from what Jed Babbin says are 295 ships to what he says must be 530 ships. Add to those surface ships the number of submarines that will be needed to protect them from below. And when all is said and done, do not forget that the new ships will have to be staffed with competent personnel to operate, fuel and maintain them — all that at the cost of about $100 million per ship per year.

 

Now the big and inevitable question: Where will the indebted to its eyeballs America borrow the money to dream and bankroll that impossible dream? Will it turn to China which will be the target of its rebuilt navy? Absurd.

 

Let’s be real. America is a declining power. It can engage in defiant fantasies such as those of Babbin and Hendrix, and continue to be the laughingstock of the world. Or it can moderate gracefully with age such that those who are poised to overtake it, will continue to venerate it even as they sit at the zenith of power while America is seen to struggle as it tries to keep its head above water.