Regaining Control of the National Security Establishment

Abstract

To justify its enormous cost, the defense sector promotes China as a deadly military threat, noneother being available This is a potentially fatal error. The Biden administration should recognize China’s sphere of influence and strengthen control over the national security establishment. Like all other government agencies, the national security agencies fight relentlessly to defend their programs, prerogatives and budgets. To that end, they use the world’s largest public relations budget, a flotilla of supporting think tanks, associations, institutes and columnists, and an army of defense industry lobbyists. Despite having never clearly won a war since World War II (not counting the farcical invasion of Grenada) and having clearly lost at least two despite a seemingly overwhelming advantage of force (Vietnam, Afghanistan and arguably Iraq), the military nonetheless has been so spectacularly successful in its political mission that we now spend more on the military than do all other countries combined – an incredible eight hundred and sixteen billion dollars per year.