re: "I remember Carter's Army"

Bill at Castle Argghhh! reminds us of the bad-old-days (before the Reagan build-up).

Money quote(s):

"We could probably scare the rest of you for hours with tales of how over 50% of our equipment was deadlined because there was no money in the budget for parts, maybe 30% of the remainder was parked in the Motor Pool because there was no money in the budget to pay for fuel for them, but it didn't matter much that we couldn't drive them to the training areas, because there was no money in the budget to pay for training ammo."

Yours Truly recalls how things improved as resources began to trickle down to the troop level during the early years of the Reagan administration, and as how things dried up again during the Clinton years.

"A reporter interviewing the commander of NATO's land forces asked him what equipment the Sovs would need to reach the English Channel if they decided to crash through Fulda, and he answered, "Shoes."

Carter's military, not just Carter's Army, was hollower than the Keebler elves' tree, and we all knew it. It still amazes me is that enough of us were yet willing to fight World War III if it happened..."

We happy few.

re: "Foreign policy shrapnel, when Europe blows"

Phil Levy at Shadow Government ("Notes From The Loyal Opposition") is worried about Europe.

Money quote(s):

"There is a strong temptation to take European stability for granted. After an exceedingly shaky start to the 20th Century, Europe got its act together, overcame animosities, and became a steady and supportive ally of the United States."

"What if you're an old-school, throw-weight and Congress of Vienna foreign policy type?"

Guilty. Mr. Levy lists four foreign policy consequences to the current Euro-zone financial crisis. He concludes:

"Decades of European stability have been a wonderful boon. It is hard to see how that stability survives the continent's current economic crisis. If Europe falters, the ramifications will not be limited to the world of finance."

In addition to being "an old-school, throw-weight and Congress of Vienna foreign policy type," CAA is an old Cold Warrior, who cut his teeth on (and in) NATO and our Western European allies, facing off against the Soviet motorized rifle hordes, somewhere over yonder past the Fulda Gap.

CAA likes Europe. CAA likes Europeans. Not more than or to the exclusion of Americans, you understand, but there's a lot of common history and culture shared with our co-civilizationists, plus a lot of personal friendships and other relationships.

On the more Realpolitik side of things, they're also a huge trading partner, not to mention the military-potential side of things. So Europe matters to the U.S., somewhat more than any other landmass of comparable population.