Uncommon Commentary #243: Brass, Bangs, Bucks, and Bankruptcies, but Not Brains

Now that nearly everyone except who matters most (viz., the ruling Obama Democrats) has become aware of the peril of g.n.p.-exceeding debts, one might expect the Pentagon brass to realize that our chief consideration in the development and procurement of arms should be not which weapons deliver the biggest bang for the biggest bucks, but which ones will have the most effectiveness for their cost.  The US intervention in Vietnam has already showed that superior technology can be thwarted by resourcefulness, and unless weapons of mass destruction (which are not necessarily the most expensive ones on the battlefield) should be used in the next war between major military powers, whoever loses that conflict will be not the side that has inferior weaponry but the one that runs out of money first.  Considering that we've dug ourselves into a 15-trillion-dollar hole even without fighting a large-scale war, and that we're making no serious attempt to climb out, that side is likely to be ours.