The US doesn't do that though. The US military didn't stop the whole middle east thing from starting. It didn't stop Afghanistan. It didn't stop the Russian "invasion" of Crimea. It didn't stop the Vietnamese war. It didn't stop the Argentinian attack on the Falklands. It didn't stop the Korean war. So much for that "security force".

Besides, if spending = strength as you seem to think then places like the EU don't even need the US anyway since the UK and France together outspend Russia and that's without the other 50 odd EU countries chipping in. So not only have you been useless in defending Europe (and the rest of the world) anyway, you're not even needed. Besides, what kind of messed up logic do you need to think that Russia or China are suddenly going to become Nazi Germany and try and conquer the world if the US lower their military budget, because it sounds like that's what you're saying, while the reality is it wouldn't really change a thing for either of those countries (or the countries near them).

1. That insane military budget isn't working very well then if despite spending all that money that's happened to the US but not any other country.

2. Depends on the terrorist group. The only group I can think of that has used one of those (nerve gas specifically) was in the Tokyo sarin gas attack, so not a US city. Although assuming you're talking solely about islamic terrorists then cities in some of those other 7 countries would be just as attractive as any US city (Paris and London for example).

Besides, in my experience dealing with terrorists and counter-terrorism operations is typically a police rather than military matter. So how exactly are a bunch of rockets, tanks and fighter jets going to help the police do their job?

The USA defense budget was already beyond insane before this vote...

People often forget, or don't commonly mention, that even though Republicans are the main offenders of taking large corporate donations, there are plenty of Democrats that do the same.

I fail to see why USA's defense budget needs to be that much higher than the top 7 closest countries combined.
Need to vote all these people out.

You have to consider the role the US military. It functions as a security force for all of North America, South Korea, Japan, EU, etc. It's easy to be snarky about US defense spending when your own country doesn't have to spend much due to the US protecting your shit and maintaining world peace.

Thank you for posting this. This is what a lot of people don't get. The majority of the US's defense spending comes from oversees costs. Personally, I don't think the US should be the world's policemen anymore. Maybe during the immediate post-WWII years, there was a reason for it and even throughout the Cold War, but there isn't anymore. The Commies aren't coming to take over and the Russians aren't the Soviet Union anymore despite what some people would like to think. The thing is some of these countries get real pissy when the US asks them step up their own defense. They're asking this in order to relieve the American taxpayer.

The US doesn't do that though. The US military didn't stop the whole middle east thing from starting. It didn't stop Afghanistan. It didn't stop the Russian "invasion" of Crimea. It didn't stop the Vietnamese war. It didn't stop the Argentinian attack on the Falklands. It didn't stop the Korean war. So much for that "security force".

Besides, if spending = strength as you seem to think then places like the EU don't even need the US anyway since the UK and France together outspend Russia and that's without the other 50 odd EU countries chipping in. So not only have you been useless in defending Europe (and the rest of the world) anyway, you're not even needed. Besides, what kind of messed up logic do you need to think that Russia or China are suddenly going to become Nazi Germany and try and conquer the world if the US lower their military budget, because it sounds like that's what you're saying, while the reality is it wouldn't really change a thing for either of those countries (or the countries near them).

The USA defense budget was already beyond insane before this vote...

People often forget, or don't commonly mention, that even though Republicans are the main offenders of taking large corporate donations, there are plenty of Democrats that do the same.

I fail to see why USA's defense budget needs to be that much higher than the top 7 closest countries combined.
Need to vote all these people out.

Two points:

1. Have any terrorists hijacked airplanes and flown them into buildings of any of those other 7 closest countries?

2. If ever a terrorist group got their hands on a WMD - i.e. a stash of nerve gas, or bio weapon, or some plutonium and made a dirty bomb,would they be more likely to set it off in one of those 7 countries or in the USA?  To a terrorist, what's a more inviting target? NYC or Beijing? Washington DC or Riyadh?