re: Is the War on Terror the perfect vehicle to keep the military going full steam?

Yep just like the "Cold War"; if you don't have a real enemy, you just make one up. I'm not implying that there aren't terrorists out there that want to kill Americans but the whole Global War on Terror is to keep the Government big, defense contractors bigger and you scared.

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I doubt if many go into the military with pocket lining at the forefront....but after years and years of seeing others do it along with the natural cynicism that comes with age many do eventually get to the point where their own interests are more important than that of the nation....and not all of them, but a bunch of 'em....

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No argument here

How can we go full steam when dod is seeking to makes huge cuts all across the board? The army itself is looking to downsize apx 100,000 over the next give years. I'm unsure of the other services.

LINK

While the military does lobby and push for funding on pet projects you are actually more likely to find this sort of story.

In short the Army keeps telling Congress "No thanks, we've got plenty" and Congress keeps making them buy M1 tanks. Nothing wrong with the M1 tank; it is probably the best tank in the world. We just have a lot of them already. So the Army buys new tanks, then ships most of them out to the desert where they get to be super expensive modern art.

The military struggled for decades trying to get Congress to shut down dozens of military posts across the country with only limited success. While a lot of those posts weren't needed and sucked up valuable resources to keep going they were important to the local economy. No politician wants to go back to their constituents and brag "I just cost the area millions of dollars and thousands of jobs! Reelect me!"

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Arksulli

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Spot on......same with the Air Force on 2 different aircrafts; the SR-71 that the Air Force didn't want back in service in the mid-90s and today with the A-10.

It has replaced communism and the Reds as the Chief Unifying Force of the American populace. It's brilliant.