Man, I really hate paying my car insurance. It’s really
costly, and I’m just a poor college student. It seems
unnecessary, because I’m a pretty good driver (if I do say so
myself). But, in my wiser moments, I realize the importance of
sending that monthly check to GEICO. The sole purpose of car
insurance is to protect me when I need protection most. All the
safe driving in the world can’t defend me from the madman in
the opposite lane.
It’s expensive, but worth it. The United States military
is a lot like my car insurance, and with an annual budget of over
$380 billion, it’s the most expensive insurance policy there
is. But I believe every penny is well spent. The military might of
the United States not only provides protection to the 260 million
citizens of the United States; it helps add stability to a very
uncertain and unstable world.
However, judging by the signs and slogans I see on Bruin Walk
and in front of the federal building every day, I take it that a
lot of people disagree with me. Our generation has grown up in a
unique era in which the United States reigns as the world hegemon
and is seemingly invulnerable to threats from other powerful
nations. The largest battles of our lifetimes have been fought in
countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. The outcomes of these
wars were as certain as a match between the Lakers and a junior
high basketball team.
Everyone agrees that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were horrible,
but they were initiated by terrorist bands countered by small bands
within the CIA, not the full military might of the United States.
Thus, recent wars requiring only a fraction of our military might
make it easy to believe that a strong, large military is a bit of
an anachronism.
But I would argue that the reason our lifetimes have been marked
by only small conflicts is precisely because of our large military.
According to international budgetary numbers provided by the Center
for Defense Information, the United States spends more on defense
than the next 25 highest-spending nations combined. The defense
expenditures of Russia, China, or France are just fractions of the
total U.S. military budget. By maintaining the world’s
strongest military, we discourage the emergence of a potential
aggressive challenger. Large-scale conflicts like the Cold War and
World War II are fought between near equals. Germany and Japan
wouldn’t have taken on the Allied forces unless they thought
they could win. The Cold War ended because the Soviet Union just
couldn’t match the United States in military
expenditures.
Because of the strength and efficiency of the United States
economy, we are able to have both guns and butter. We can have the
world’s largest military and still enjoy one of the
world’s highest standards of living. Other nations simply
cannot. By leading the international community in military spending
we can stay off threats from other large, powerful nations.
But what about rogue nations and terrorist threats? How do we
defend against small “rogue nations,” like Iraq and
North Korea, that regularly snub international law and seek to gain
military equality by developing weapons of mass destruction?
Clearly, a large military is preferable for combating these threats
as well. Whether you are for or against the current war in Iraq,
you have to admit that it is perhaps one of the most efficient and
“humane” wars ever fought in history. In our attempt to
disarm the Iraqi regime we are spending billions ($75 billion in
fact) to prevent as many civilian and military deaths as
possible.
If we spent less on our military each year, it would be
impossible to use precision weapons capable of demolishing a
target, while leaving the neighboring civilian facilities unharmed.
A large military can quickly and surgically eliminate threats posed
by small, rogue nations by doing as little damage as possible to
accomplish its goals. In this way, the United States maintains a
certain level of civility and world stability.
In a perfect world our annual defense budget would be zero, and
I firmly believe that is a noble goal to attain. But in the
dangerous world we live in the United States must continue to lead
the world in military spending ““ both for our own defense and
for the stability of the world. Just like my car insurance, the
military can be very expensive. But when accidents happen and
trouble arises, you’re glad you have full coverage.
Ludlow is a second-year political science student. E-mail him at
dludlow@media.ucla.edu.