The Giant Goes Back to Sleep

While Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is credited with the "sleeping giant" quote the fact of the matter was we were sadly unprepared for a world war let alone a sneak attack.

Former Vice President Cheney calls Hagel's proposed Army cuts 'absolutely devastating'

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s proposed drastic cuts to the U.S. Army are “absolutely dangerous" and would cause long-term damage to the military.
Cheney told Fox News’ Sean Hannity the proposed cuts, which would shrink the Army to its smallest size since just before the U.S. entered World War II, would have a devastating impact on the ability of future presidents to deal with future crises.
“This is really over the top,” Cheney said. “It does enormous long-term damage to our military.”
The Army had already been preparing to shrink to 490,000 active-duty members from a wartime peak of 570,000. Hagel is proposing to cut it further to between 440,000 and 450,000.
"We are repositioning to focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities that will define our future: new technologies, new centers of power, and a world that is growing more volatile, more unpredictable, and in some instances more threatening to the United States," Hagel said at a press conference at the Pentagon.
He defended the proposed reductions in troop strength, as a trade-off for building up "technological superiority" and priorities like Special Operations Forces and "cyber resources."~snip~

There may be some merit for us to be more observers in the world than active participants in other countries policies. Until other countries decide to force their policies on us.
But can we really afford to play catch up a second time in history and can we afford to hope for the same outcome again?