Strong on Defense??? [View All]

Defending America is the key to Republican strategy for winning the next two elections. But are the Republicans really strong on defense?

What party cut defense spending by 30% in a single budget? Republican under George Herbert Walker Bush and overseen by his Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney

Once upon a time all military procurements had to be within the borders of the United States. The reasoning was that we never know who our friends will be in the future. Under Reagan the standard side arm for military use was changed from the venerable Colt .45 Automatic to the Baretta 9 mm. Fine weapon but only one factory is in the US, all others overseas. What happens if we go to war with Italy? Think they'll sell us spare parts?

What is the current Republican Administration doing to be Strong on Defense?

Three years ago the DOJ allowed the sale of Americas only manufacturer of tantalum capacitors (a vital electronic component for all high tech defense hardware) to a foreign company owned and operated by Israel. The CEO of the company I worked for at the time was called to testify before the DOJ to no avail. Should we lose access to this product every smart weapon and many everyday electronic products will cease to exist. On the scale of danger to our national security I would rate this a 9.5.

They have cut 24,000 troops from the National Guard. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/18/AR2006011802098_pf.html Not only that but they have left the equipment for the National Guard in Iraq making it impossible for states to respond to local disasters. They'll have to car pool to the next hurricane.

They are opening the southern border to “guest workers” and anyone else who masquerades as a guest worker. Nobody has a clue of who is coming over that border. http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=327863&cp=10996

They are giving control of six major ports over to a company owned and operated by a foreign government. A government listed by the CIA as one with ties to terrorist organizations. A country that contributed two of the 19 hijackers on 9/11. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0222/p01s01-usfp.html http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=12518
Bush now says he will veto any bill preventing the deal going through. His first veto in 5 years if he goes through with it.

The Pentagon is now buying more bullets from overseas (including countries like Albania) than from domestic suppliers. What happens if we go to war with one or more of those countries? Will we have to buy bullets from the guys we’re shooting them at? How likely is that? http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6188

Are the Republicans really strong on defense? I think not. They are strong on spending a lot of money with the Military Industrial Complex that Ike Eisenhower warned us about. The US spends as much on defense as the rest of the world combined yet our troops aren't equipped with armor and we can't supply them with bullets from inside our own borders. Where the hell is all that money going?

Spending like a drunken sailor doesn't make you a naval veteran.