Conor here: The following is from 2011. What’s changed over the past 14 years (aside from the defense budget growing larger)?

By Andrew Bacevich, chairman and co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His latest Dispatch book is On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century and his new novel, Ravens on a Wire, was published as last year ended. Originally published at Tom Dispatch.

In defense circles, “cutting” the Pentagon budget has once again become a topic of conversation.  Americans should not confuse that talk with reality.  Any cuts exacted will at most reduce the rate of growth.  The essential facts remain: U.S. military outlays today equal that of every other nation on the planet combined, a situation without precedent in modern history.

The Pentagon presently spends more in constant dollars than it did at any time during the Cold War — this despite the

Keep reading this article on Naked Capitalism (Yves Smith) - Blog.