U.S.’s New Cold War

The Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. ended up being a resource-consumption race. Both powers kept plunging their money and natural resources into building more and better weapons. Eventually, the economy of the U.S.S.R. crumbled before the U.S.

The U.S. enjoyed almost a decade of prosperity after the Cold War ended, in part because the nation had to buy spend less money on the war machine.

After 9-11, the Bush administration mounted a war on terror, which was patterned after the Cold War. Regardless of Bush's true intentions into invading Iraq, the fact is that this is a costly war that has made, once again, the U.S. economically vulnerable.


One can justify the Cold War expenses because there was a visible enemy country. Defense spending had a direct impact on securing the country. I can hardly imagine a justification of today's war on terror expense because fighting in Iraq doesn't make the U.S. more secure.

I listened on the radio how Rumsfeld wants to close bases. Many U.S. communities depend on the military to survive. Closing these bases will probably destroy the economy of these towns.

Rumsfeld was arguing in favor of the closings by saying that in 20 years, the country was going to save 20 billion dollars.

I thought about how each "emergency" budget bill for Iraq costs us between 60 to 80 billion dollars for another six to ten months of war.

In other words, the administration is choosing to destroy the economic well-being of dozens of American towns with the money that would sustain them for 20 years for a war which no one really knows know why we are fighting it for.

I believe that the U.S. is in fact living through another Cold War economy with the key difference that there is no rival country. Without a rival country's economic destruction to signal the end of hostilities, the U.S. will probably go on and on until it spends itself into oblivion.



Please comment.

I really do not understand the closing of bases. Maybe too much disability pay towards those cashing in on military service via the Veterans Affairs is hurting the budget. Looks like we try to save a buck in order to cash in on financially corrupt foreign policies.

We will always have a rival country or rival 'something'. Without one we have no justification of dominance to lay on the 'masses'. We need an enemy, real or otherwise, to further lay claim for our economic web of well being. I also think that we have already lost focus on labor issues. Economic mergers and takeovers are a source of motivation for survival. The weakened labor unions are further proof that we care more about the bottom line than we do about our foundation. The foundation of successfull middleclass business. Giant corporations are turning more to offshhore services, and foreign labor. US corporations will milk this cow as long as porfits are provided. For whom they provide is another question. 

The US will never be defeated by a foreign threat, it will crumple through its own incompitence and obsolecense.  There needs to be an enemy to justify such spending, there needs to be such spending to justify lobbyists, and so on...

Old Ike warned us about this, but we didnt listen...This is why Iraq, then Iran, then North Korea will be threats, even though none of them have th epower to even remotely harm us.