Yet it still struggled in Korea, Vietnam, Afghan, Iraq and now Iran. Countries like Ukraine are doing more with a lot less. Size + spending = capability doesn’t seem to add up anymore and isn’t providing value for money. Like you say, its just enriching the military contractors.
I don’t know about Medicare but Medicaid and SS are pretty dismal compared to the rest of the west. And even countries like China nowadays.
Yet it still struggled in Korea, Vietnam, Afghan, Iraq and now Iran. Countries like Ukraine are doing more with a lot less. Size + spending = capability doesn’t seem to add up anymore and isn’t providing value for money. Like you say, its just enriching the military contractors.
I don’t know about Medicare but Medicaid and SS are pretty dismal compared to the rest of the west. And even countries like China nowadays.
Projecting power is hard and defense is usually easier than offense.
The USA was historically pretty smart by having a giant military but deferring to negotiation and soft power techniques to get its way.
It helped when we had allies. Actually that was kinda crucial to the concept. :-\