US dusts off WWII playbook for China while ignoring local needs
Newsweek enthusiastically reports the US plans to reactivate WWII-era airbases across the Pacific, prepping for a potential military engagement with China. They quote military officials describing this as 'flexible' and 'resilient.' What they don't quite get into is the nearly $900 billion annual defense budget (FY2023, Defense.gov ) that somehow still requires dusting off relics instead of
providing, say, universal healthcare or addressing crumbling US infrastructure. The projection of force is paramount, even when it means repurposing facilities from a war 80 years ago. One might wonder if the 'resilience' they speak of extends to the American public, who frequently face cuts to social services while military expenditures soar. It appears preparing for 'great power competition'
takes precedence over, you know, actually empowering the constituents who fund it all. At least the contractors get their cut. And who needs modern hospitals when you've got a freshly paved runway from 1944?