Teddy Roosevelt said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
I’m not sure that America speaks all that softly and that stick has been around the world more than once and has been expensive. I did a bit of virtual sleuthing and the military budgets approved by the Congress between 1946 to 2009 have cost the American tax-payer about 23 trillion dollars. These figures do not include the wars since World War II.
Korea cost more than five hundred billion (2008 dollars).
The Vietnam War cost more than a trillion.
To date, the cost of war in Iraq since 2003 has cost 747.3 billion and Afghanistan 299 billion since 2001.
China intervened in the Korean War and sent hundreds-of-thousands of troops. To understand why the Chinese got involved, hear Mao’s words during the Vietnam War. “Vietnam is the gums to our teeth. What happens when the gums are gone?” Between 1965 and 1970, over 320,000 Chinese soldiers served in North Vietnam.
China's Military
“Rather than worrying about this development, we should understand that Beijing’s maintenance of a large, modern military is driven by history.” Source: Huffington Post “On 4 March 2010, Beijing announced China’s declared defense budget will only increase by 7.5% this year — the slowest rate in 20 years.”
To learn more, read “When the Generals Laughed” http://wp.me/pN4pY-dG
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