Will The U.S. Still Be A Military Superpower?

The aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. US Navy Photo

Harry J. Kazianis, National Interest: Is America Still a Military Superpower?

As other nations gain some important military advantages, Washington must deal with Sequestration.

No doubt talk around those always busy coffee nooks and hallways in DC think tanks these past few weeks centered around the question of America’s defense budget. And with various proposals floating around the corridors of power, great conservative think tank studies breaking down U.S. defense needs along with a spirited debate concerning the size of various armed forces like the navy, the conversation has certainly been flowing. And so it should, considering the times we live in.

America, in many respects, is a tired and weary superpower. Having fought two long and draining wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11, many assumed that the nation rightly deserved some sort of “peace dividend.” And there is no doubt this makes sense—heck, it was done after the Cold War, why not now?

Update: How Powerful Is America's Military Really? -- Zachary Keck, National Interest

WNU Editor:  For the foreseeable future the answer is an easy yes .... America is a military supperpower. But trends are everything, and the trend for the U.S. is to have a smaller military footprint on the world scene.

How U.S. Military Bases Overseas Influenced The Battle For Kobane

(Click on Image to Enlarge)
Located: The U.S. has military bases around the world, as depicted in this graphic. Daily Mail

Amy Austin Holmes, Washington Post: What the battle for Kobane says about U.S. overseas military bases

WNU Editor: The positioning of numerous US bases throughout the world is a military advantage that no one else in the world even comes close to matching. This is a testament to years of U.S. diplomacy, the implementation of economic strategies in tandem with military strategies .... and .... of course .... the willingness to pay for it.

An Analysis On President Obama’s Mark On The Military

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visit Fort Stewart. (White House photo)

Stephen Losey, Military Times: AMERICA'S MILITARY: A conservative institution's uneasy cultural evolution

WNU Editor: This is a continuing series from Military Times on the U.S. military. And yes .... it is a must read.

How Do Other Countries View The U.S. Military

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan travels through the Pacific Ocean with other ships assigned to the Rim of the Pacific 2010 exercise, north of Hawaii, July 24, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dylan McCord

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: What Do Chinese and Russians Think of the U.S. Military?

Update: Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat: International Perceptions of the U.S. Military, Revisited (The Diplomat)

WNU Editor: I can only speak for myself .... but from my own experiences and from knowing a few people in both Russia and China .... I can say with great confidence that everyone that I know has a great respect for the U.S. military. They all understand that the U.S. military is a formidable force .... but .... here is the kicker .... it is not the U.S. military that they (myself included) are looking at.

The institution that everyone looks at is the U.S. government .... its altitude/policies/intentions/agendas/and actions. The U.S. military is just a tool for the White House and its policies .... and if Moscow and Beijing are uncomfortable with the policies of the White House .... they will react as they are reacting now.

Is The Pentagon Out Of Control?

Can Ashton Carter Rein In A Pentagon Out Of Control? -- Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post

Chuck Hagel may not have been able to work with the ever more powerful National Security Council staff, but this discussion of personalities misses the point. The key to success for a defense secretary today is the ability to manage not White House aides but rather the Pentagon, which is the world’s most complicated and most dysfunctional bureaucracy. Ashton Carter, the president’s presumed choice as the next secretary, is a brilliant man and perhaps has made some friends at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But by far the best quality he has going for him is that he seems to understand the need to rein in a Pentagon now so out of control that it is difficult to fully comprehend or explain.

Republicans worry a great deal about dysfunction in government. They launch investigations to find out why a few hundred million dollars were wasted and insist that departments do more with less. Except for the largest government bureaucracy in the world, the Defense Department, which spends about $600 billion a year — more than the entire GDP of Poland — and employs 1.4 million men and women in uniform, 700,000 civilians and 700,000 full-time contractors. The Pentagon’s accounts are so vast and byzantine that it is probably impossible to do a thorough audit of them.

Read more ....

My Comment: Fareed Zakaria takes Congress and the Pentagon leadership to task for the mess at the Pentagon .... but I am not surprise that he did not even mention once that maybe .... just maybe .... after being in the White House for 6 years .... his friend .... President Obama .... be also held responsible for a little of this mess.

I guess I am asking for too much.

America's 5 Biggest Military Victories

Stars and Stripes Forever: America's 5 Biggest Military Victories -- Robert Farley, National Interest

Is there an American way of war? The question evokes deep controversy, not least because for a very long time, Americans considered themselves an exceptionally peaceful nation. Even into the twentieth century, American presidents boasted about the nation’s aversion to war and defense expenditures.

But even during the period in which the United States openly embraced pacifism, its military forces won some remarkable victories. This article examines five great American victories, spanning from 1780 until 1944. We’re looking for neither technically impressive victories (although most of these are), nor predictable thrashings. With one major exception, these battles did not turn on chance or on the need for remarkable heroism (although such heroism was always present). Instead, these successes came at the end of well-conceived and executed campaigns, designed to integrate the elements of national power into a strategic victory. We’re looking at how the United States built a series of advantages that led inexorably to victory, even if the outcome sometimes remained in doubt until the final play.

Read more ....

My Comment: I would add Gettysburg, and the Battle of the Bulge.

Is The U.S. Military Losing It's Technology Advantage To China And Russia?

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, August 21, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

Russia, China Aim To Close Military Technology Gap With U.S.: Hagel -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Russia and China are trying to close the technology gap with the U.S. military and developing weapons systems that appear designed to counter traditional U.S. advantages, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday.

Hagel was speaking before a NATO summit expected to bring Russia's souring relations with the West into sharp focus and the goals of NATO allies to strengthen defense spending.

Hagel said the Pentagon was renewing a push to revamp how it works with the defense industry. The goal, he said, was to promote greater innovation needed to preserve America's technological edge, even at a time of tighter budgets.

Read more ....

My Comment: Both Russia and China are trying to close this gap ....but when you look the budgets and the number of personnel that are involved .... the U.S. is still far ahead. The only real adversary to U.S. military technology dominance may .... in the next 10 to 20 years ... be the Chinese .... but even then I am skeptical. In the end .... it will be the U.S. itself that will determine whether or not they will still want to be positioned to have the most effective military in the world with the best technology.

How Much Does It Cost The U.S. To Blow Up Captured U.S. Military Hardware In Iraq

An M1 Abrams tank of the Iraqi security forces is seen during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Ramadi, May 31, 2014. REUTERS/ Ali al-Mashhadani

How Much It Costs The U.S. To Blow Up Captured U.S. Military Hardware In Iraq -- Jason Field, Reuters

Last week was a weird one for American military hardware.

In the United States, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), AR-15s and camouflage body armor all made an appearance on the streets of a suburb in the heartland, helping to give a tense situation the push needed to turn into a week of riots. American citizens in Ferguson, Missouri, feeling they were being occupied by a foreign army, rather than their friendly neighborhood cop on the beat.

MRAPs didn’t get a better rap overseas, either. In what’s still being called Iraq — at least for the sake of convenience — the U.S. Air Force has resumed bombing missions in the northern part of the “country.” The aim of the missions is stated as being the defense of a minority group known as the Yazidis, who practice a religion unique to themselves and are under threat by the Islamic State, a jihadi group that controls a large chunk of territory in Syria and Iraq.

Read more ....

My Comment: Steve Ganyard sums it up best in his latest tweet ....

Yesterday a $28M American Reaper shot a $70k Hellfire that blew up a $600k MRAP given to Iraq, stolen by ISIS. Your tax dollars at "work".
— Steve Ganyard (@SteveGanyard) August 15, 2014