Do I want Mitt Romney answering the phone at the White House at 3:00AM? Oh, hell YES!
I just love it when a liberal tries desperately to use something they are so dead set against, have no clue about, and really wants to do away with, as a reason to vote for Obama. Now that the political hack rdean has spewed the unbelievable crap that he has spewed, lets look at reality, shall we?
Here's our bomber fleet. The B-52 was developed in the very early 1950's. The B-1B was developed and produced in the early 80's (upgraded from the B-1A that Jimmy cancelled). And the B-2 was developed and produced in the late 1990's (but theres only 20 of these). Based upon the number of bombers currently available for each type, the average age of the bomber fleet is over 45 years sunshine. The B-52H (the only variant still flying), because its airframe is over 50 years old, costs approximately $10,555 for every hour that it flys. The B-1B, because it is rapidly approaching the 'designed' max life of its airframe, cost a little over $7,000 per hour to fly. The B-2 actually costs less to fly per hour than each of these (actual amount classified) because it is well within its engineered service life.
Why do we even have bombers? It is based upon something called the "triad." The triad is a concept that states that if you have three independent systems to rely upon, an enemy cannot knock out all three simultaneously, thereby effectively denying you the ability to strike back. If you're going to get 'hit' harder in retaliation than you can hit first, perhaps you'll think twice about making the first move. The legs of our triad is the manned bomber fleet (cruise missles, gavity bombs, etc.), strategic missles (Minuteman III) and the SLBM's (Ohio class nuclear submarines with Poseiden missles). So the question then becomes, "Isn't this a 'cold war' concept that doesn't apply today?" Hardly.
The North Koreans aren't exactly sitting at the peace table wanting to see how they can get a Kia plant in Pyonyang. The Iranians can't seem to hide the chill they get up their leg when they talk about nuking someone with the medium-ranged missle they just got from Pakistan. Russia has just allowed Putin to return to power with his side-kick Medyeved (SP??) and they are rebuilding the northern fleet as fast as they can to return Russia to it's glory. And China has just launched it's first deep-water aircraft carrier that is making the Taiwanese very, very nervous. Not to mention our good friends the Pakistani's who still tingle from the bin Laden take down; works closely with the North Koreans AND the Iranians; and sits at the breakfast table with terrorists from around the globe. Don't forget that because of Barry and the boys, about 20% of our oil comes through the strait of Hormuz. Don't forget the pirates off Somali that take ships at an alarming rate. What happens if they get ahold of a nuke from one of the ships they take?
It is not enough that we have good special operators in the SEALS and Delta. We must have a capable and effective force to protect our interests around the world. The legs of the triad are old and MUST be modernized. NATO is a very good way to ensure that our interests around the world are protected (refer to Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states). The United States MUST lead in this organization, but member nations MUST provide their fair share.
By the way: Props to the President for the drone strikes. Great job and great tactic. Keep them up.
