We are turning to rely on he F-35, which in the latest Pentagon assessment went up against Russian Su-30's (and its variants) and was easily denied access to refueling and therefore had its effectiveness all but eliminated.
Well if cost is an issue, the cheapest way to keep this going is to keep it going. Once the line is shut down, it is not going to be restarted, and if it is, it will be far more expensive than the current price tag.
While I agree, we ought to be developing new planes, we do not yet have them in production, and a clear threat for the F-22 is going to be rolling off lines in the coming years, and we are ending the program.
Economic indicators were going to rise regardless, that is how economies work. You are giving credit to something we have not even spent as a reason for why the economy is turning around. The stimulus has little to do with it.
Both of these nations are revamping their armed forces to directly fight ours, and we are responding by preparing to fight another Afghanistan. I think that is a mistake.
We could easily have a conflict erupt over Taiwan, or NATO expansion, or gas cut offs to Europe, a nuclear Iran, North Korea. All of these things would bring us in conflict with Russia and China. Perhaps we might not go to war, but we should be prepared for it.
Obama demanded that troops come home before the Surge in defeat. Now after Bush followed the hard road and stayed in, I bet Obama is all for taking the credit.
I am not sure of this, there was huge pressure to bring them home before the Surge, and instead President Bush followed the Surge plan, against popular opinion.
