The 5 Most Cost Effective Investments in Defense Trump Should Take Now
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Here are the five most cost effective near-term investments that the incoming administration should make.
Dan Goure [2]
President-elect Trump has made it clear he intends to rebuild a U.S. military that has been underfunded and overextended. He wants to improve both the military’s capacity – adding 75,000 soldiers back into the Army, increasing the number of Marine Corps infantry battalions and building more Navy ships – and capability – providing, for example, hundreds of additional modern fighters to the Air Force. He also wants to take on the waste that is inherent in any large, complex system with more than 3 million uniformed and civilian “employees” and spending nearly $2 billion a day.
There are lots to do for a military that has been at war for 15 years. Where should the new President and his national security team put their focus? The immediate problem is to shore up deterrence. President Trump’s ability to protect the American people and their homeland from attack, secure vital economic and political interests overseas and establish satisfactory relationships with countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran will depend, in large part, on the credibility of U.S. military forces. Simply put, if competitors, prospective adversaries and so-called crazy states believe that no military options exist by which they can achieve their objectives, their only choice will be negotiations and compromise.
Source URL (retrieved on November 15, 2016):
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-5-most-cost-effective-investments-defense-trump-should-18397
