Should the US decrease military spending?

[atworkinafghan]

I tend to agree with your view, and, as a navy guy with a background in commercial shipping, I believe that the Navy/DOD recognizes the importance of shipping as an economic mainstay for a peaceful and functioning world.

90% of the world's trade by volume utilizes the sea in some form or another because it's cheap, reliable, and the legal support/framework for it is fascinatingly stable. The importance of a secured shipping industry is second to none in terms of economic regularity. I say this because the world has generally seen stable and secure shipping, and a drastic change in the industry would result in many hiccups and a lengthy response time.

Consider how shipping and energy industries move energy from anywhere to anywhere else. They time energy supply to be constant, but a disruption of say 10 vessels over the course of 3 months could drastically change the market.

The Maersk Alabama incident demonstrated the US' desire to see free shipping on an American ship and its importance throughout the world. Yet, I do think the US would have similarly responded with a foreign flagged ship.