Hey, Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth . . . I just found something you can cut in the Pentagon budget.

Photo above - World War 2 ends with Japan's surrender on a US battleship. The US is now bringing back a pair of 1940's era battleships to bolster our nation's defenses. Not a joke . . . for real.

Isn’t it enough that we have ELEVEN aircraft carrier groups? Each with an entourage of more than dozen support ships guarding the big enchilada? Carriers can't survive 5 minutes without submarines, guided missile cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and who knows what else.

Now a pair of 80 year old battleships are returning to duty. Commissioned in 1942-44, the Wisconsin and Iowa. Entered active duty before the end of World War 2. Before the invention of broadcast television and the hula hoop.

Generals (and admirals) always spend their careers preparing to re-fight the last war. Apparently we are getting ready for a repeat of World War 2. The Wisconsin and Iowa are equipped with 18 inch guns, the largest ever fitted to any ship. These behemoths can hit targets up to 24 miles away. Unless someone fires a cruise missile in their direction first - range 1,000 miles. Remember to watch out for torpedoes, too!

The Russians are using legacy "capital ships" against Ukraine. But a Russian heavy cruiser was destroyed almost immediately by a homebuilt Ukrainian drone. Apparently, Russia thinks it’s refighting World War 2 also.

Attention please, outgoing Biden administration (and incoming Trump administration). World War 3 has already begun. The weapons are hacking, infrastructure attacks, disabling GPS and cellular networks. Using cheap orbital payloads to kill military satellites which have no defense, and no way to shoot back. Puleeze . .. we don’t need two battleships, and the flotilla of support vehicles each will need.

The pentagon has 490 generals, and at least 62 admirals. The incoming Trump administration plans to “transform” America’s defense by forcing a bunch of them to retire. I humbly suggest that leaving the Iowa and Wisconsin in mothballs go to the top of the our spending cuts.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Iowa and Wisconsin Battleships Return to Service: A Controversial Move Amid Evolving Naval Strategy

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swirlie

Battle ships including aircraft carriers have officially been declared 'obsolete' by the US military almost 5 years ago. The latest and greatest aircraft carrier the US Navy had ordered and then subsequently cancelled, was obsolete before the ink was dry on the blueprints. They are obsolete because they can be sunk in a heartbeat from land-based arsenals.

Another reason the Iowa and Wisconsin Battleships are returning to service is because the US government is bankrupt, which means it's broke. There is no money for new ships, nor is there any money for infrastructure rebuilding of the country itself.

The USA is functioning on borrowed money and every time their debt ceiling is raised, the USA owes even more money in interest payments on that spiraling national debt.

As Trump pulls the USA out of action around the world by re-creating the USA as an isolationist Nation just like it was 100 years ago after WWI, you watch how many US Navy ships get mothballed to save money when the USA decides to sit on the sidelines and watch from afar, which is standard Republican posturing in an isolationist Nation.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@swirlie its hard to pinpoint when the US government became bankrupt. our national debt is $35 trillion now. resurrecting old mothballed ships doesn't save money. it costs money. it's a flim flam intended to appease people who want a "strong national defense". Just like Trump's border wall made of shipping containers was intended to convince the gullible that border immigration could be inexpensively halted.

swirlie

@SusanInFlorida
I fully agree with everything you've stated here.

Where the US national debt even got started was in the early 1950's under the leadership of Eisenhower. He told Americans that every American will have a Chevrolet in their driveway if they voted for him, which was an inference that America would be SO rich under Eisenhower's leadership that everyone could have anything they wanted.

He then encouraged people to simply go out and borrow the money and pay it back later, because they'll be SO rich that pay-back-time won't be an issue!

He then led by example... he started borrowing money and building stuff across America, but there was no plan in place to ever repay those government loans he made on America's behalf. Yet, here we are today with America still thinking like Eisenhower, borrowing more money and not paying it back!

NOW, the USA is borrowing more money by raising the debt ceiling JUST to pay the interest-only on the monthly loan payment that is being carried by the government!