Obama to cut military budget

In a move that is sure to divide opinion, the US President has announced cuts totalling billions of dollars to the military.
The president also announced that the focus would switch to the Pacific and the Strait of Hormuz and warned that ground forces would no longer be able to conduct long term counterinsurgency campaigns as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said: 'We're turning the page on a decade of war.
'Our military will be leaner, but the world must know; the United States is going to maintain our military superiority.'

I've grown up in a military family so my views are it's a bad idea. But 1/4 of our income goes to military funding, so maybe cutting down to 20% would be good. No doubt that the military families will be effected because of this.

i dont see how this could be a bad idea i mean does america really need a military base anywhere else but its own country???
but then again im not american

Trust me, we got some enemies who would take any opportunity to take advantage of no US military presence.

well maybe in asia but i do beleive americans are on good terms with everybody in europe

That whole thing is just a remnant of the Cold War. Our bases aren't terribly powerful in Europe. Also, he didn't say he wanted to cut the budget, he said:

what "whole thing" because if your talking about europe then you have obviosly never been to any european country
and that message makes it sound like the world NEEDS america which is completly false

Well, as it is right now, the world does need America. Not militaristically speaking, but with all that global market and geopolitics jazz, America is much better to have around as opposed to China, or Russia.

yes, economically they are needed but i was talking militarily, and that is what annoys me about some americans they are fixated in their beleif that without thier military leading the charge then the world will end

The 'whole thing' is the myriad of US bases which are remnants of the Second World War and the Cold War. I would never assume that the world needs the United States, but Europe does like to bitch when we don't get involved.

Edit: Forgot this picture

Good, we need to cut back, the money we spend on Military is absolutely atrocious.

yes the EU does get a little bitchy but we have perfectly fine bases in europe, why does america need its own?

We don't, they are remnants of the Cold War which we have not gotten rid of yet.

A huge percent of the military budget goes to veterans healthcare, their pensions, etc. The problem isn't that we have too many ships or guns, it's that we have too many soldiers. Turns out though, it's a lot easier to screw over a battleship than a veteran and his family.

You must be crazy to think the European armies aren't complete jokes.

I don't mean to be a cynical asshole, but Obama has announced many things. It seams he is back in campaigning mode allready. After 3 years of him being in office i don't pay much attention anymore to what he announces to do but to what(if at all) he will eventualy do.

@ karakoran well you can support hundreds of thousands of veterans for the cost of a cruiser
Also european armies aren't jokes, they do well for what they are designed to do. they are designed to protect their respective countries. And not to atack others. Ofcourse in cases of intervention they are absolutely boned without the help of the us (see lybia). But to call them jokes is kind of over the top. since there are only two armies in the world(US and Russia) that would have a realistic chance of defeating a consolidated unified EU army.

You try accomplishing anything with a Congress that is bent on opposing anything you propose even when they had proposed it beforehand.

You live in a landlocked nation so you wouldn't know much about the navy.
Jk!

i have been by a few and they show no signs that someone is getting rid of them

Given he had a philibuster-majority in both houses for his first two years, it's hard to say Congress is at fault. If anything you would say the American people are at fault for not electing another democrat dominated Congress.

Just in general, his plans cost a lot of money. Already, the debt has doubled under his presidency and it's mainly due to plans like obamacare and the such. They are noble, but they cost a lot of money to do, and we don't need to spend anymore money.