1 : 9 ?
I find I am, quite sharply, led to question a statement I heard repeated several times this past week-end which insisted our national armed forces were not only first among all nations of the Earth, but that it would take the total power of the next nine nations to equal it!
I ask for the basic, known facts to back such an assertion.
This was not a chance remark, not uninformed street talk, not a bit of smart-alec chatter around the coffee machine and snacks, but a portion of a major address, obviously “researched”, planned or evolved to be delivered before a regional conference which was to be reported in the media.
I would begin, by asking who's figures were used.
I heard the statement in two ways:
At one moment, I was being told our defenses against more Terrorism of “September 11th” caliber were adequate and that we could be fairly certain of being able to meet any such attacks in the immediate future. Our armed forces were strong, but being improved steadily, for which we should all be thankful.
But, at other times, I was made to feel ashamed that we, as a sort of bully-of-the-block, had developed such a monstrous machine of militant power primarily so we could rule supreme over other nations less prone to such excesses. We were again told it would take the armed forces of the next nine nations, lumped together, to equal our war-making power. I found no list of who those nine nations might be, or any indication concerning how their actual, known military power was judged so accurately. How does one select the “next nine nations”? By population, by some economic factor, geographic placement and land mass, language, race, creed, color?
I'm sure persons charged with our national defense would like to know how such a lopsided ratio can be shown to exist. As was intimated, we could probably do away with much that we now deem essential as a base on which we might be able to build even greater protective powers.
Another point: how many of these “nine nations” are we expected to protect and fight for in any future conflict regardless of where they might be located? If we are to do what we can to sustain a form of government which we, and they, deem to be proper for free men and women, we must cooperate with and defend, if need be, those who have a like belief and trust and to do so with sufficient force and alacrity when, wherever and if, the need arises
Free speech is one of our most valuable treasures. Care should be taken to see that what is said so freely is also factual, fair and enunciated for the common good.
It appears that we must be aware of the fact that the very freedoms we prize so highly can be used against us by those who would do us harm, intentionally or unwittingly.
A.L.M. December 4, 2002 [c503wds]
