Hagelin-Goldhaber 2000

Our Bloated Military
We spend a staggering $300 billion a year on defense--as much as the rest of the world combined...

...and 60 times more than Russia. Yet our bloated military is powerless to protect us from the most serious threats to our national security: terrorist acts by organizations and "rogue" nations armed with weapons of mass destruction. Our entire defense strategy is out of date, lacking in vision, and a costly carry-over from the Cold War era.

In this campaign, George W. Bush and Al Gore are competing to outspend each other on the military, reflecting both their parties' close financial ties to weapons manufacturers. Scarce military resources are squandered today on pork-barrel weapons like the $2 billion B2 bomber and the $60 billion flawed missile defense shield--programs that the Pentagon does not even want.

Unencumbered by special interest ties to weapons manufacturers, I would focus more of our defense resources on military personnel, training, readiness, and retention--creating a more streamlined, flexible force to effectively combat the threat of terrorism and meet our nation's security needs in the post-Cold War world.

Most important to our national defense: we must stop creating enemies. Our meddlesome foreign policy has sown the seeds of enmity throughout the world.

Most of our foreign aid is military aid. We are the world's leading arms peddler, providing weapons to both sides of most international conflicts. Our troops are often forced to confront our own weapons on the battlefield. America's foreign policy has fostered ill will throughout the world and has made us the principal target of terrorism on Earth.

I will immediately shift U.S. foreign policy away from intervention and military aid towards a more life-supporting policy, offering technical assistance in crucial areas such as business, entrepreneurism, education, sustainable agriculture, and environmentaltechnologies. This will create a more prosperous, harmonious, and secure family of nations.

Finally, recognizing our recent failures to prevent conflict and promote lasting peace through military intervention alone, I would support a "prevention wing" in the military--a true peacekeeping force trained to diffuse regional tensions among warring factions, using proven nonviolent methods of conflict resolution.