Obsessed with world domination, aggressive American militarist imperialism will result in World War Three, the destruction of civilization and probably the human species itself--unless it is resisted.
Try Googling " Number of USA buildings in Foreign Countries.
After you recover imagine how much it costs and include the cost of the people working in them and the costs of keeping their families in these countries.
Beyond imaginings you can pursue the numbers but its taking me a long time to find them all -such as costs for schooling, flights home, and on and on.... and on.
You may recover from the periodic fresh assaults to your senses if you undertake this hobby.
It is apparent that this is one of the very biggest costs to our citizens bringing the country down - the people too.
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Perhaps you missed it when President Eisenhower warned about "The Military Industrial Complex". War is not to be won or lost. It is to be sustained. These folks want what every business wants, a reliable stream of customers.
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Cuba advances security by sending its doctors around the world.
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Your infrastructure is crumbling. Your social safety net is laughable. Investment in emerging technologies is lagging. Your debt is burgeoning. But the US government has the money to fund foreign militaries.
This is how great nations hollow themselves out for decades before they collapse.
Invest in your relationships with your allies. Scale back non essential, non strategic force deployment. Stop thinking like a hegemonic power and being a bully.
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The Chinese builds infrastructure across the globe which bring benefits citizens can seed, while the U.S. provides military equipment. The Chinese are winning.
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Until their infrastructure falls apart
The US should focus its efforts and its money on threats to the USA. All you are doing is making more enemies.
You mention corruption and suggest this is a problem in receiving countries. I suspect that much of this money has been wasted buying sub-standard products and services from US campaign contributors at inflated prices. But that isn’t corruption, it’s politics (roll eyes).
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Well, an 8/21 success rate could certainly be better, but it's nothing catastrophic. I think all aid programs should be subjected to stringent criteria and evaluation, not only military aid.
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Is it a surprise why this program delivers nothing for dollars.
Today, we have the Congress - goaded by a POTUS (and I am a Republican) - who can't give Pentagon enough money.
When so much money is sloshing around - of course, there is going to be corruption.
And if I were a betting man, I bet these Pentagon staffers are rewarded on how much money they hand out and not on rates of return.
While public and private enterprises are totally different, analyzing investments should be a rigorous exercise - and not a hand waiving one.
It's time that these types of programs be scrutinized contemporaneously and not a few years down the road.
And finally, we need a Congress to ask tough questions of Pentagon brass what America is getting in return for these expenditures.
Unfortunately, knowing the past, this is just another chest beating exercise and billions will still go down that infamous rabbit hole.
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