Does the US need an Army, Air Force, Navy or intelligence agencies?

[BrentWil]

What sort of national defense apparatus does the United States actually need to protect its people?

[jberryhill]

1. There's nothing about an Air Force in the Constitution

Run that one by a teabagger some time.

[truebluegreen]

10. Even better, in the confronting-a-teabagger scenario

is that the Constitution expressly forbids a standing army.

Aren't they the ones who think the only reason to have a federal government is the military?

[BrentWil]

21. Not really

It simply says Congress must authorize then every two years.

[underthematrix]

2. Yes we need a military because eveything is not

about reacting to what others do.

[former-republican]

3. Is this a serious question ?

You think the country doesn't need a military..

okay

[RC]

7. What good is a military that is scattered all over the world, doing everything but defending this

country In fact they are doing more to make enemies than they are in keeping the peace.

[font size=5]Hey look, some kids playing! Where's the nearest drone?[/font size]

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Really? Should I take this seriously?

[jsr]

5. Yes, we need Eye Spy Community-Military Intelligence (All Three)

[Brother Buzz]

8. You win!

I won road scholar from the United States Navy/United States Marine Corp. at West Point.



STATUS: ANNOUNCED CANDIDATE. Lee Mercer Jr. is a two-time veteran with an "unusual" story to tell. He first served in Navy during the Vietnam War, leaving the service in 1972. After working as a dental assistant, he earned his BS degree in business at Texas Southern University and then became a mortgage broker. Then he rejoined the military, entering the Texas National Guard in 1989 and served in the first Gulf War (which he calls "the Saudi Arabia War&quot . Then his story became bizarre. He states: "On August 22, 1992, The State of Texas installed an intelligence hotwire in me at the United States Army Military Intelligence Academy ... The continuation of my biography background experience, graduate education and political experience is being held because of a Lack of authorities debriefing funds and interest for their liability to me. I am in a stalled police debriefing with the Houston Police Department waiting for me to sue to complete my debriefing for my background biography with them in the United States Army Military Intelligence Academy ... I have a doctor degree Phd. as a doctor of laws, medicine, theology, management, engineering and other subjects that are guaranteed by the United States Army in ROTC to be presented to me in a court of Law only. I will receive my doctor degrees in a court of law only ... The United States Federal Congress has encouraged me to want to become President of the United States so that I can do what the President of the United States of America is supposed to do and complete the federal and military government biography and autobiography." Mercer's reasons for running are just as colorful. They include: "To prove The Klu Klux Klan and the Communist Party are gangsters and organize crime in Business and Commerce through Eye Spy Community-Military Intelligence ... To prove that every person in the United States and world is hooked up on an Eye Spy Community-Military Intelligence (All Three) Electronic surveillance hot-wires approved by the United States Congress for the U.S. Government Electronic Surveillance of every citizen in America ... To Prove I will be the 2nd Negro President of the United States of America in 2008 ... To Prove President George Walker Bush, Jr. and other Public Officials have been Impeached by the United States Congress in 2004 for torture of me and my family, capital murder in my family, Espionage and other crimes against the state and humanity ... To Prove the government owes me Zillions of Dollars in money and is refraining to pay me and my business ... To Prove Jeb Bush is all in my house with disease ... To Prove My only Guardian Former Governor of Texas Ann Richards has just joined me MERCER FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN ... [To Prove] I have solved every crime in America and the world for the last 15 years dating back to before Christ." There's lots more, but these excerpts should give you an idea of what you'll find on his campaign website.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Where did you find this jewel?

[Brother Buzz]

13. .

http://www.mercerforpresident2008.com/

[allrevvedup]

6. I'd settle for a coast guard.

The rest has got to go.

[WillyT]

9. Well Of Course... If We Want To Support, And Continue, Our Empire...

Now... HOW MUCH do we need, for the protection of our citizenry... much, much, less.

[JaneQPublic]

11. You should have posted this on Dec. 7, just for the shear irony of it. (nt)

[Douglas Carpenter]

14. given the size and scope of America it is unavoidable that the U.S. would be a major military power

It certainly could be downsized. There is no reason to define American national interest to include just about everything and anything. To be the power behind the vast majority of thrones and the granter of legitimacy to the vast majority of the world's governments - is a no win situation that aside from the immorality of it - this is simply against America's own national interest, There certainly is no good reason why we should have a military budget roughly equal to the rest of the world combined together. That is certainly contrary to America's own national interest.

[JDPriestly]

15. We probably need some sort of military organization, but it should be about 1/4

the size of the organization we have.

And we need to have some sort of review of the entire officer's corps that is not of, by and for the military itself. We need a much more aggressive civilian review of the military. And by civilian, I mean people who have never served in the military, are not in the pay of the industries and companies that get government contracts of any kind and that is elected directly by popular vote by all Americans.

No president since Eisenhower has been able to "command" the military. It should not be necessary to have a general in the White House in order to insure civilian control of our military.

[Selatius]

16. We need a citizen army. We do NOT need an IMPERIAL ARMY. We have an imperial army.

We should go back to the days where the United States relied upon conscripts or community militias, much like Switzerland of today. In a time of great war, the United States could draft a citizen army to fight the major campaigns and then demobilize once it ends. The Civil War is a good example.

Citizen armies are poor instruments in the pursuit of imperial ambitions. They are heterogeneous in political thought, and because citizens come from all walks of life, you are guaranteed against having an army that is dominated by one school of thought. Orders that are immoral will likely face internal opposition from some segments of the military.

To build an empire or expand your sphere of economic influence, you want a military force that is mostly if not entirely all-volunteer. You need a permanent standing army, and an all-volunteer military force fits the bill. Such an army can be crafted through training and reinforcement and social engineering to filter out political thought that may be seen as "counter-productive" towards the goals of projecting military force and imposing control or gaining influence on foreign soil.

You need an army that internalizes the statement that no order is an immoral order. It will be carried out no matter the conditions. It is an army built upon blind obedience to authority. This is the kind of army that Stalin and Hitler used on the battlefield.

[GaYellowDawg]

17. Why, of course not.

We should disband all of the armed forces and intelligence agencies. We have no need for them because the rest of the world is filled with wonderful, nice people who would never think about harming a hair on an American's head or taking something from the country by force if they could.



We do need the armed forces. What we don't need is to devote the massive proportion of our budget to them that we do.

[Third Doctor]

18. I think that's a no brainer.

The problem is how much tax dollars we waste supporting it and what we use the military for.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. Yes, but they don't have to be the size they are now

We certainly don't need Army bases all over the world and we don't need to constantly be buying the latest and greatest killing technology when we have other things gathering dust. We spent less when it was the Department of War than we do now as the Department of Defense. It's nothing more than a high priced, inefficient, testosterone laden jobs program. If we're going to spend federal dollars employing people, we could get a lot more bang for our buck rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, reducing our kids class sizes, providing healthcare for all, etc.

[Sgent]

20. We need a core

of professionals -- officers and NCO's, which can train an army quickly. We do not need a military that is ready to fight 2 1/2 major conflicts at any time.

[rppper]

22. Exactly....

Modern technology and our partnerships with the UN and nato has made the need for so many bases in conquered WWII countries unnecessary...germany, Okinawa, nearly all of South Korean bases(they have a modern military that could stall the North Koreans untill help arrives)....we don't need 2/3 of the forces we have overseas...all of these bases are Cold War relics....faster transport of troops and logistics made them obsolete, but the Military upper eschelons have a death grip on the remaining areas it seems. Another round of base closure hearings is overdue.

[AlexSatan]

24. National policy

and force reductions no longer support two MCOs.

And given the diversity of military functions, there is no way to train a competent military quickly. Yes, we could decreases Active Duty numbers.

[greytdemocrat]

23. Wow

I thought this was the Reality Based Community??? What planet are you from???

[RomneyLies]

25. Well I surely wouldn't want to outsource those core competencies to China

though it may be on the radar of the GOP since you can never tell what stupid idea they'll consider.