Quote Originally Posted by Vuk
There is no excuse for cutting back on the military like he did. The U.S. could not put up any type defence if attacked.
"Walk softly" That's ok, but you also must "Carry a big stick"!!
The U.S. has to be in a position where other nations will fear a war with them so much that they would never dream of attacking. THEN the U.S. can prosper. The U.S. has been steadily declining as a world power just as its military has.
As Tribesman hinted, the main reason why Reagan increased military spending so much was to force the SU into matching them and thus bankrupting themselves. When Clinton took office, that reason didn't exist anymore.
In hindsight you can label it a wrong decision, you can even argue that even then it was a shortsighted thing to do- but a comparison with Blair's recent cuts doesn't hold a drop of water.

When you played RTW, did you ever pay attention to those Latin proverbs? Those people weren't a bunch of dumb, inferior, cavemen, they knew what they were talking about. With the way society is structured, and our new technology, we could have world peace...but only if the world feared attacking us. No matter how peace loving you are, there are always oppurtunists seeking to enlarge their countries and make a name for themsleves. The U.S. will never be safe till IT makes ITSELF safe. Only by gaurding against attacks can we hope not to be attacked - not by leaving ourselves to the mercy of the world.
Say what ever leftist garble you like: It is the instruments of war that keep peace.
I have, but my reading on the Romans and Latin text isn't limited to RTW, but thanks anyway for the condescension. World peace is a utopian dream, the only thing you can hope (and the only thing you're really interested in) is that all violence happens far away from the US.

And roughly paraphrasing a wise man: it's impossible to avoid war and prepare for it simultaniously.