Another Indicator Of American Decline

Leading Indicator Of Decline -- Richard Cleary and Thomas Donnelly, Weekly Standard

The $489 billion cut to defense budgets engineered by Barack Obama — as well as the played-for-fool Republican accomplices on Capitol Hill — won't just mean less American military power. These cuts have significant consequences for America's allies, as well.

Consider the case of the F-35 Joint Strike fighter program. The Obama Pentagon has reduced the 2013 purchase of Lightnings from 42 to 29 and reduced the planned five-year buy by more than 100 aircraft. This will drive the cost of each F-35 up, yet again; the development costs of the plane remain the same regardless. And because the JSF program has been an international effort since its conception, Obama’s decision increases the cost for everyone.

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My Comment: As I had mentioned in a related post a few days ago .... numbers never lie. A decrease in F-35 orders means an increase in costs that in return results in other customers now not being able to afford the planes that they want .... which then means a smaller order .... followed by an increase in cost .... and .... the cycle starts all over again.

In the end we will be stuck with a small F-35 fleet .... at an astronomical cost .... that would not even come close to accommodating our national security requirements.

The Rise Of The Rest

An excellent article from Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria, and a better response to his article from National Review's Jim Manzi.

From Newsweek:

It's true China is booming, Russia is growing more assertive, terrorism is a threat. But if America is losing the ability to dictate to this new world, it has not lost the ability to lead.

Americans are glum at the moment. No, I mean really glum. In April, a new poll revealed that 81 percent of the American people believe that the country is on the "wrong track." In the 25 years that pollsters have asked this question, last month's response was by far the most negative. Other polls, asking similar questions, found levels of gloom that were even more alarming, often at 30- and 40-year highs. There are reasons to be pessimistic—a financial panic and looming recession, a seemingly endless war in Iraq, and the ongoing threat of terrorism. But the facts on the ground—unemployment numbers, foreclosure rates, deaths from terror attacks—are simply not dire enough to explain the present atmosphere of malaise.

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From National Review:

Ross Douthat has pretty negative take on Fareed Zakaria's argument that “The world has shifted from anti-Americanism to post-Americanism.” I agree, and think it’s important to amplify why.

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My Comment: Because of America's predominant position in the world since the Second World War, many conflicts that could have gone totally out of control were either suppressed and/or stopped by American power and/or influence. With the rise of other superpowers, India and China being two of them, this military equation and strategic position is changing. Will we have more wars? I do not know the answer to that right now. But China is turning a blind eye to dictatorships and repressive governments around the world. This is not a good omen because it is usually these type of governments that ferment wars and conflicts.