10/29/23 – We Get What We (Geopolitically) Pay For. Or Do We?

Summary

Common knowledge?

• The Earth is round.
• The USA has the world’s best scientists and engineers.
• The USA has the world’s best military.
• Israel has the world’s most technologically superior defense force and anti-terrorist systems in place.
• You get what you pay for?

NASA spacecraft keeps on going faster and faster and faster
https://mashable.com/article/nasa-parker-solar-probe-speed

“Over the past couple years, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has continually smashed its own speed records. In 2018, soon after its launch, the probe became the fastest human-made object ever built, and by 2024 it will reach a whopping 430,000 miles per hour.” Unit cost: $1.5 billion; Inventory: 1; Total: $1.5 billion (+ ground support and study)

Well, surely this is the results of our world-class educational system? “Public K-12 expenditures total $794.7 billion $16,080 per pupil annually.”

U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics
https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics

Yet how is it that Americans have created and launched the fastest human-made object ever built – able to use entire planets (Venus) as a gravity assist device, to reach and study the corona of the sun, but still have a percentage of the population that refuses to believe that such an achievement of human engineering was launched from the oblate spheroid on which we all live? In other worlds, the believe that the Earth is flat. Perhaps it's harmless enough of an outlier, but what happens when enough people who think the Earth is flat, get the ear of those who fund solar probes?

But let’s bring things closer to home.

USAF – F-22 Raptor: https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104506/f-22-raptor/

“The F-22 Raptor is combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The F-22, a critical component of the Global Strike Task Force, is designed to project air dominance, rapidly and at great distances and defeat threats attempting to deny access to our nation's Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The F-22 cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft.” Unit cost: $143 million; Inventory: total force, 183; Total: $26.2 billion

Impressive! "Peace through strength" is worth it, correct? But wait-- the F-22 Raptor is being retired?

F-22s Marked for Retirement Will Never Be Combat Worthy, General Says: https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2023/04/f-22s-marked-retirement-will-never-be-combat-worthy-general-says/384916/

“The U.S. Air Force can't use its F-22 Block 20 jets in conflict—because it would require too much effort and cost too much to get the aircraft ready for battle, a top service official said. ‘They will never be a part of the combat force. They don't have the most modern communications.’ “

Okay, iPhones get upgraded, so why not advanced fighter jets? But investments in allies surely pay off? For example, the USA provides $3.3 billion a year (2022) in military assistance to Israel. “Between 1951 and 2022, Israel received $225.2 billion in US military aid, adjusted for inflation, which is approximately 71% of its aid from all sources. Since 2000, over 86% of annual American aid to Israel has funded military efforts. Annual foreign military financing grants from the United States represent about 16% of the Israeli military budget, according to the Congressional Research Service.”

How much aid does the US give to Israel? https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-military-aid-does-the-us-give-to-israel/

Well, we can’t put a price on peace and stability, can we?

How Does Israel’s Iron Dome Rocket Defense System Work?
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a45563041/israels-iron-dome-how-it-works/
A complete Iron Dome battery costs $50 million. There are ten operational batteries nationwide, for a total investment of $500 million.

This is in no way to suggest or imply any victim blaming or to deny the tragic human costs of recent events in Israel and Gaza Strip. But do we collectively (nation or not) really get what we pay for? Does the technology-military-industrial complex have a line item for winning “hearts and minds”? For not creating the next generation of terrorists or idealogues. Does it lead to clear thinking or at least an accounting for the human costs of suffering, regardless of what flag is being waved?

Israel’s Iron Dome Air defense System Works Well – Here’s How Hamas Got Around It
https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2023/10/13/israels-iron-dome-air-defense-system-works-well-heres-how-hamas-got-around-it

Israel’s Military Tech Fetish Is a Failed Strategy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/26/israel-hamas-gaza-military-idf-technology-surveillance-fence-strategy-ground-war/

“A fixation on technology created an illusion of safety—and an excuse to avoid hard choices.”

Indeed, how prepared or willing are the policy makers, leaders and stakeholders at the forefront of today’s conflicts ready to assess their worldview, identify their blind spots, and shatter their illusions? Or are we all limited to gut reactions (and spending) when they get shattered for us by others?