194 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 20 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 2/28/14

Finally Cuts to the Military, but not the Right Ones

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   No comments

Jim Turnage
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Jim Turnage

The news services were buzzing today, 2/24/2014 about cuts in military spending.  I have been advocating this for years.  The U.S. spends five times more than any other nation on its military.  We all now know that much of it is in the form of waste and lack of oversight by the Pentagon regarding its defense industries.  However, these cuts are not the ones that the Pentagon should make.

The majority of the deductions will be from those who serve, and who have actually served in wars for our nation.  Benefits and pay cuts for soldiers simply emphasize the fact that they are only appreciated during the wars in which they served.  Once they come home, they become unimportant to our government, while many of them became wealthy because of defense industry investments.  (Just ask Vietnam veterans.)

I have been campaigning for years to close obsolete bases in dozens of countries.  Virtually none of them are critical to our national defense.  I featured the fact that we continue to maintain bases in such countries as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan.  Why?

Our military signs off on billions of dollars of waste.  I worked for a company in my twenties that was supported entirely by the military and space programs.  I remember the cost of many items in our warehouse.  It was not uncommon for a single screw to cost 38 dollars each.  And that was in 1965.  Imagine what our military pays for the same screw today.

The Department of Defense is lowering our military forces by 90,000.  That is understandable because modern wars will never be won on the ground.  However, cutting pay increases and benefits for our existing military is equal to cutting benefits for the Nation's poorest and in need the most.  That's what our government does.   Those who live comfortable lives, with no worry about maintaining a home, feeding their families, health care, and an opportunity to provide a good education for their children will continue to benefit from the proposed budget.  A soldier returning from one of our illegal wars with a debilitating injury, and expected his country to care for him and his family after his return, will find that "necessary funds have been cut from the budget.'

Lowering our military budget is the right thing to do.  But let's do it correctly.  A complete audit of Pentagon spending would find hundreds if not thousands of areas that could be eliminated, saving hundreds of millions of dollars.  Our government should do the right thing at least once.

James Turnage

Op-ed

Rate It | View Ratings

Jim Turnage Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Forced to retire in 2008, I turned to my passion, writing. I published my first novel, "A Little Murder in the Biggest Little City" in October, 2012. I answered an ad for an articles writer, shortly after that, and wrote hundreds of articles for (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Why do Writers Write?

Religions are not Christian

NRA Lies and Deception have nothing to do with Gun Rights

The Punishment Does Not Fit the Crime

Why the Baby Boomers are the Second Greatest Generation

The Death of America was a Suicide

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend