What costs $1.5 billion, is gray, and continues to drain money every second it exists? According to a GAO study submitted to the Congress and Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993, the answer would be an Aircraft Carrier Group. Now this does not include the cost of actually building the ships, just the acquisition, support, and operation of the group for one year. And bear in mind, we are talking about 1993 dollars.
Also not included in that figure is one of the most expensive military toys we have: aircraft. Since the average carrier compliment of aircraft includes two fighter groups, two fighter-bomber groups, and anti-submarine group, and various cargo, reconnaissance, and transport planes, as well as rescue helicopters … and the fuel it takes to make them fly.
Now let’s include sailors, trained personnel who are able to operate the equipment needed to support those aircraft and the ship itself.
Total it up, and you will start to realize exactly how much money President Obama is preparing to throw into the pot for our support of South Korea. Add that figure to the annual budget for Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the support of the many military installations across the globe, and you will begin to see that this latest proposal is not only unnecessary, but totally unwarranted.
President Obama is attempting to “rattle” his saber in a vain and futile attempt to convince Kim Jong-un, the twenty-five-year-old heir apparent of the ailing Kim Jong-il and son of North Korea’d founder, Kim Jong-sung, that his continued military harassment of South Korea will not be tolerated. Now, granted these attacks are simply a way of letting the powers that be know four star General Kim Jong-un will be a man to be reckoned with, since the same pattern of attacks preceded the previous transition between the first Kim Jongs. And granted that we are probably expected to do something by the South Koreans After all, we are their allies.
But here’s the rub. Obama would rather send a Carrier Task Group off the coast of Korea than to agree to rejoin the Six Nation talks (North and South Korean, Russia, China, Japan, and the US, of course.). I understand his reasoning, sort of. After all, the North Koreans do have between eihgjt and twelve nuclear weapons, and are an ally of the Chinese. And certainly we do not need to sit down with any of these nations to do anything that would increase diplomatic relations and, perhaps, ease tensions.
I have only one more question for Obama. Are you sure that “throwing money at the problem” is the way you want your legacy to read?
