Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“Today most of America’s “defense” budget goes to offense. Some of that is for utterly inane operations, such as invading Iraq, defeating the Taliban to turn Afghanistan into a modern parliamentary democracy, and battling Yemen’s Ansar Allah to keep the oceans free for Europe and China. Even more resources are devoted to protecting prosperous, populous allies — Europe, along with South Korea, Japan, and numerous others. Whatever would the Pentagon do with hundreds of billions of dollars more? If all these nations spent according to their ability and need, there would be no reason for Washington to keep them as defense dependents. What new wars does Rubio imagine fighting? It is time for the U.S. to embrace peace.” (04/10/25)