How things work

[bcherod]

It appears that many people think they know how the the defense department works, but they don’t have a clue.

Our biggest industry is defense and weapons.

We don’t give other countries weapons. They buy them.

The US trains the world how to use the weapons at their expense, not ours. It’s been a symbiotic relationship for years. It’s also a trade negotiation, exchange for certain rights in their countries. Military bases for one.

The DOD considers this a win win situation because the buyers are testing our weapons for us at no cost to us, including loss of life.

This has been going on through multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

But now, because Trump has told people other countries are stealing from us and living off of us, everyone that follows him wants to gut the DOD.

That would be the greatest, singular destruction of the economy.

I’m sure that people have heard of favored nation status, etc. to an extent, we also work off a barter system.

Try and wrap your brain around a few things. “In exchange for not charging duty on your products, you let us operate in your country”. And I’m not talking about IBM operating in France in exchange for no duty on French goods.

 

[BrianNole777]

Isn't it sad that the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world's biggest industry are weapons?

 

[ThiccJimXXX]

 

[mnole03]

Whatever band this guy is in, it sucks.

 

[Tenacious E]

Isn't it sad that the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world's biggest industry are weapons?

It’s healthcare. But even it is the MIC I’d say not really. As we close out 2024, there are still an incredible number of bad actors globally, and it is the opposite of sad we that we develop and produce the best weapons in the world to stop them.

 

[BrianNole777]

It’s healthcare. But even it is the MIC I’d say not really. As we close out 2024, there are still an incredible number of bad actors globally, and it is the opposite of sad we that we develop and produce the best weapons in the world to stop them.

Most people killed in wars are civilians.

 

[bcherod]

It’s healthcare. But even it is the MIC I’d say not really. As we close out 2024, there are still an incredible number of bad actors globally, and it is the opposite of sad we that we develop and produce the best weapons in the world to stop them.

So you’re saying the largest income for the US is healthcare?

Re read my post. The government is not making money from healthcare. They are from MIC.

 

[Tenacious E]

So you’re saying the largest income for the US is healthcare?

Re read my post. The government is not making money from healthcare. They are from MIC.

I said industry, and I wasn’t responding to you.

 

[desihawk]

It appears that many people think they know how the the defense department works, but they don’t have a clue.

Our biggest industry is defense and weapons.

We don’t give other countries weapons. They buy them.

The US trains the world how to use the weapons at their expense, not ours. It’s been a symbiotic relationship for years. It’s also a trade negotiation, exchange for certain rights in their countries. Military bases for one.

The DOD considers this a win win situation because the buyers are testing our weapons for us at no cost to us, including loss of life.

This has been going on through multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

But now, because Trump has told people other countries are stealing from us and living off of us, everyone that follows him wants to gut the DOD.

That would be the greatest, singular destruction of the economy.

I’m sure that people have heard of favored nation status, etc. to an extent, we also work off a barter system.

Try and wrap your brain around a few things. “In exchange for not charging duty on your products, you let us operate in your country”. And I’m not talking about IBM operating in France in exchange for no duty on French goods.

good post but two points. 1. who wants to gut dod? yes they are saying they’ll wind down the ukr war but i’m sure something juicy will appear soon enough. 2. per your last para we should def tariff the hell out of china. but yes need to be a lot more nuanced with others.

 

[Tenacious E]

Most people killed in wars are civilians.

I’m not advocating for war, just the ability to wage it the best. No one hates war more than a warrior and such.

 

[Scruddy]

We just forgave Ukraine on billions in loans to buy said weapons. Sounds like the tax payer is buying them for different countries to wage unnecessary losing wars.

 

[bcherod]

good post but two points. 1. who wants to gut dod? yes they are saying they’ll wind down the ukr war but i’m sure something juicy will appear soon enough. 2. per your last para we should def tariff the hell out of china. but yes need to be a lot more nuanced with others.

I understand what you’re saying. IMO, I don’t think we should be supporting China in any way, buying their goods. I’d rather buy a shirt from Sri Lanka or Vietnam Nam.

As to your first question, I shall defer until tomorrow when I can gather the sources to prove my point.

But, Hegspeth has talked about it on a daily basis. We have had 100 former security personnel warn against this in the last month.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

Eisenhower would be pissed off at us for the Military Industrial Complex.

We have more weapons that we will never use in the billions of tax dollar money.

 

[Hawk_82]

It appears that many people think they know how the the defense department works, but they don’t have a clue.

Our biggest industry is defense and weapons.

We don’t give other countries weapons. They buy them.

The US trains the world how to use the weapons at their expense, not ours. It’s been a symbiotic relationship for years. It’s also a trade negotiation, exchange for certain rights in their countries. Military bases for one.

The DOD considers this a win win situation because the buyers are testing our weapons for us at no cost to us, including loss of life.

This has been going on through multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

But now, because Trump has told people other countries are stealing from us and living off of us, everyone that follows him wants to gut the DOD.

That would be the greatest, singular destruction of the economy.

I’m sure that people have heard of favored nation status, etc. to an extent, we also work off a barter system.

Try and wrap your brain around a few things. “In exchange for not charging duty on your products, you let us operate in your country”. And I’m not talking about IBM operating in France in exchange for no duty on French goods.

https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-administrations-moves-forgive-47-billion-loans-ukraine-2024-11-20/

 

[Hawk_82]

If the USA is helping someone, you can be pretty sure the us is getting something in return. The us is willing to send money to Ukraine because it is funding the companies building the weapons and supporting the war in Ukraine.

When the war ends, blackrock will be there to rebuild. If Ukraine defaults on their massive debt, the us will "help" them by taking control of their land, companies, or natural resources.

 

[Tenacious E]

Eisenhower would be pissed off at us for the Military Industrial Complex.

We have more weapons that we will never use in the billions of tax dollar money.

I have a different viewpoint on this. To protect our interests militarily, we need an attitude of abundance and an actual abundance of weaponry such that we can both support Ukraine in Europe and Taiwan in Asia. Hopefully supporting Ukraine will indirectly lead to a better version of Syria, which would be priceless. We need slack in the system and ability to make more when needed. But, it certainly does come at a cost.

 

[FranklinHawk]

Eisenhower would be pissed off at us for the Military Industrial Complex.

We have more weapons that we will never use in the billions of tax dollar money.

I guess there are 2 ways to look at this. Will we never use them BECAUSE we have them? As in, is the fact that we're armed to the gills a deterrent to those who otherwise may want to harm us?

 

[markfromj]

When you say, “Our biggest industry is defense and weapons”, do you mean “our” being the US economy (not even close to true) or the US government (source?)?

 

[Jimmy McGill]

I have a different viewpoint on this. To protect our interests militarily, we need an attitude of abundance and an actual abundance of weaponry such that we can both support Ukraine in Europe and Taiwan in Asia. Hopefully supporting Ukraine will indirectly lead to a better version of Syria, which would be priceless. We need slack in the system and ability to make more when needed. But, it certainly does come at a cost.

That's fine. We can agree to disagree. I just witnessed so much money being shitted away in Iraq with Blackwater, etc. of other contractors.

We also left behind a shit load of equipment.

Our military spends more than the next 10 nations combined.

I'm fine with Teddy Roosevelt, speak softly but carry a big stick.

But our DOD budget is generally not a fault of those in uniform or civilians in the Pentagon......It is each Senator or Congressman with a military base/construction. It is corrupt as hell. If folks really want change, I can probably come up with 50 ways.

Granted I haven't served since 2008, but I've represented many military/vet folks since then, and I still have a lot of contacts that are still serving.

There is a reason I don't like going to Veteran's Day post ceremony meals with my old man. I can't stand how stupid some of those folks are and I tend to leave with aggravation or make someone else aggravated because I called their bullshit about stuff they knew nothing about.

First summer after I got home.....County Fair (I know embarassing), I attended and the local State Senator started talking to me about Iraq and how he knew all the answers. He went on and on. He knew who I was, but he didn't realize that I had just spent a year there. I let him talk. Then I presented him with facts. He was speechless. He left his GOP booth at the fair shortly after.

 

[ericram]

Most people killed in wars are civilians.

That's not really true these days.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

That's not really true these days.

There were at least 200,000 Iraqi civilians killed while we were there.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

You break it, you own it. - Fvck off Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz

 

[ericram]

There were at least 200,000 Iraqi civilians killed while we were there.

Yes.. Things have changed as the way war is waged today.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

Sounds exactly like MAGA idiots.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

Yes.. Things have changed as the way war is waged today.

I hope so. War is stupid in general. But when people like General Shinsheki gives advice on how many troops it would require to occupy a country after you defeat it and the politicians that never served VETO it, that causes more deaths.

Even a resident HBOT idiot could tell you that Iraq was going to go into civil conflict between the Sunni and Shiites. Add to that, we disbanded their army (largest employer and paychecks).

I don't know. Perhaps you are right with the drone work now. But I still believe there are some fundamental things that will always be true.

 

[Tenacious E]

That's not really true these days.

I was going to post this but I could not find data to back it up. I suppose it depends on how we define "these days". Despite Putin's terrorism and destruction of infrastructure, it certainly seems like the vast majority of casualties on both sides are troops. But going back further than the Ukraine war, it is more and more tilted towards civilian casualties.

 

[ericram]

I was going to post this but I could not find data to back it up. I suppose it depends on how we define "these days". Despite Putin's terrorism and destruction of infrastructure, it certainly seems like the vast majority of casualties on both sides are troops. But going back further than the Ukraine war, it is more and more tilted towards civilian casualties.

Definitely in the last war killed a shit ton of civilians. Today it's much more precise. Certainly civilian losses could be higher but it's not the case as the technology is also much more precise.

 

[ericram]

I hope so. War is stupid in general. But when people like General Shinsheki gives advice on how many troops it would require to occupy a country after you defeat it and the politicians that never served VETO it, that causes more deaths.

Even a resident HBOT idiot could tell you that Iraq was going to go into civil conflict between the Sunni and Shiites. Add to that, we disbanded their army (largest employer and paychecks).

I don't know. Perhaps you are right with the drone work now. But I still believe there are some fundamental things that will always be true.

War sucks ass any way you look at it. We definitely agree on that.

 

[DeangeloVickers]

It appears that many people think they know how the the defense department works, but they don’t have a clue.

Our biggest industry is defense and weapons.

We don’t give other countries weapons. They buy them.

The US trains the world how to use the weapons at their expense, not ours. It’s been a symbiotic relationship for years. It’s also a trade negotiation, exchange for certain rights in their countries. Military bases for one.

The DOD considers this a win win situation because the buyers are testing our weapons for us at no cost to us, including loss of life.

This has been going on through multiple administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

But now, because Trump has told people other countries are stealing from us and living off of us, everyone that follows him wants to gut the DOD.

That would be the greatest, singular destruction of the economy.

I’m sure that people have heard of favored nation status, etc. to an extent, we also work off a barter system.

Try and wrap your brain around a few things. “In exchange for not charging duty on your products, you let us operate in your country”. And I’m not talking about IBM operating in France in exchange for no duty on French goods.

So you're saying there aren't other areas in the defense budget that aren't profitable and that can be cut significantly? It's pure gaslighting for you to pick an area that isn't a financial issue and pretend that's what people want to eliminate.
Smart people know better.

 

[ThiccJimXXX]

 

[Jimmy McGill]

My biggest problem with US non-domestic affairs has been messing up other parts of the world. There is a reason other than fat MAGATs that travel, that people around the world hate us.

 

[markfromj]

But we won’t, because we like seeing ourselves as victims.

 

[bcherod]

My biggest problem with US non-domestic affairs has been messing up other parts of the world. There is a reason other than fat MAGATs that travel, that people around the world hate us.

I have stories about that. Allende in Chile. Our ambassador told the US to not get involved, as the result would be far worse.

It was. They got Pinochet.

That’s just one of the stories.

 

[bcherod]

My biggest problem with US non-domestic affairs has been messing up other parts of the world. There is a reason other than fat MAGATs that travel, that people around the world hate us.

We could talk about that forever.

There are many reasons. But each part of the world has its own reasons.

When we were sent to Japan, we had mandatory Japanese culture class. Everyone. We kids in school and the parents in orientation class.

I assumed that happened with many who grew up overseas, but I’m not so sure. I’d really have to research that.

But my parents said it was because of the reconstruction philosophy after WW2, by then ambassador Reischauer.

Interesting topic. My father travelled quite a bit and would tell us the stories of the other countries and how the AF expected people to behave.