Defense

When WW 2 ended the US reduced defense spending and the country sent soldiers off to the Korean War with outdated equipment. When the cold war ended defense spending was reduced and called the peace dividend. In the 90’s experts predicted that future wars would be fought with high tech stuff and the need for boots on the ground would be minimal. When the US sent troops off to Afghanistan and Iraq they went unprepared. The country complained that troops did not have the proper equipment and they were being asked to go on multiple tours of duty. Now that Iraq is over and Afghanistan is winding down the US is once again cutting defense. It is my recollection that many of the people who pushed for defense cuts were the same ones who complained that the troops were being short changed and now these same people are once again asking for defense cuts. In all of this back and forth it is the troops that pay the penalty while those who push for such changes escape without a scar.