There Is No Military Free Lunch

''There Is No Military Free Lunch," New York Times, February 2, 1990.

Excerpt:

Will we tolerate such a diminution of our position as a world power? Are we willing to relinquish the possibility of intervening anywhere, ever, to help shape a world order in flux? Will we count on our nursing homes and day care centers, rather than our Navy, Air Force and Marines, to deter foreign nations from taking actions offensive and hostile to us? Are we content to become a larger Sweden, existing comfortably, if a bit precariously, on the margin of world affairs?

I don’t believe it. Such a prospect goes too profoundly against the grain. Even Congress, which would dearly love to spend every penny of that dividend – if it existed – is likely to find such a future intolerable.

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