Those arguing for more defense spending lean heavily on misinformation to make their case; many of the critics–previously including myself–have relied on myth. The first of a two part series starts today in Time's Battleland blog at http://nation.time.com/2012/
PART I
Adventures in Babbleland: Desperate Rhetoric for Mundane Times
TIME Battleland | October 1, 2012 |
First of two articles
Imposing itself only infrequently on the consciousness of the noise-makers who dominate presidential campaign coverage on TV and in the newspapers, the defense budget has been a second-tier issue in the 2012 elections.
That may properly be so, but the inattention of the top of the line political pontificators, who can be excused for not understanding the issue except at the most superficial level, has not elevated the quality of the debate at the lower tier.
Leaving the discussion to people like the chairman and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, sitting and former secretaries of defense, and the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has-surprisingly only to some-left us with a debate on the Pentagon budget that is hysterical, misinformed, and, most of all, misinforming. Moreover, many of the critics of these histrionics from the other side, including myself, have been so wedded to myths that both parties should be seen as the source of the dismal babble, not just the one.
Read full article with photo and graphics.
