We are a wealthy country. I'd rather spend money than blood to protect America.
Holding off our most serious security problems "over there" makes this necessary:
The United States has always been enthusiastic about spending enormous amounts on weapons, ammunition, supplies and equipment for the troops, with the idea of keeping U.S. casualties down while still winning the war. During World War II, U.S. combat deaths were 300,000 plus 100,000 non-combat dead. The Soviet Union, on the other end of this scale, lost 10.7 million dead in combat (including 4.4 million captured and missing), and nearly 20 million civilians killed as well. Of all the major combatants in World War II, the U.S. had the lowest casualty rate (about 2 percent). Russia lost about 15 percent of its entire population during the war. For every American killed during World War II, 75 Russians died.
It's easier to motivate soldiers directly defending their homeland under direct attack. The Civil War was our most bloody war.
So compassion and practicality intersect to encourage America to spend money rather than blood to sustain our soldiers' will to fight and die far from home on alien shores.
Consider our experience in the Atlantic. We don't want that threat revived. And we don't want a similar threat from across the Pacific.
And our troops may need a higher cause to justify extended sacrifice far from home. The Civil War provided the model by requiring a crusade to end the evil of slavery here. And Americans certainly fought and died in Korea and Vietnam to defeat global communism. And Americans fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq to fight global jihad.
Is there waste in our defense spending? Sure. And if we can reform how we spend we could reduce spending without reducing capabilities. But the same can be said for the rest of the budget. We clearly can't do that. And if we can't do that, when we cut spending the first thing to go is military capability. I don't have to like that reality to recognize it.
So when you want to cut American defense spending--which is a small portion of our GDP--you may need to decide whether we should spend more blood instead of money. You may need to decide whether we should abandon a forward defense and focus on a cheaper--but more dangerous because it abandons allies and turns them into enemy assets--Fortress America. And you may need to decide that none of our enemies are evil enough or dangerous enough to require our sacrifice in either money or blood.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
