How Cutting Pentagon Spending Will Fix U.S. Defense Strategy | Benjamin H. Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary

How Cutting Pentagon Spending Will Fix U.S. Defense Strategy | Benjamin H. Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Far bigger savings are possible if the Pentagon is recast as a true defense agency rather than one aimed at something far more ambitious.'

'the U.S. military is currently structured to exercise power abroad, not provide self-defense. The U.S. Navy patrols the globe in the name of protecting global commerce, even though markets easily adapt to supply disruptions and other states have good reason to protect their own shipments. Washington maintains enormous ground forces in order to conduct nation-building missions abroad — despite the fact that such missions generally fail at great cost. Garrisons in Germany and South Korea have become subsidies that allow Cold War-era allies to avoid self-reliance.

Not only are these missions unnecessary, they are counterproductive. They turn economically capable allies into dependents, provoke animosity in far-flung corners of the globe, and encourage states to balance U.S. military power, often with nuclear weapons. A strategy based on restraint would allow Washington to save at least about $1.2 trillion over a decade, three times what the Obama administration is now asking for.'