The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the
Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan More Books by James
Dunnigan The American Disease Discussion Board on this DLS topic
by James Dunnigan June 19, 2008 In the United States, figuring
out what military equipment to buy, and then developing it,
suffers from what can be called, the "American Disease." Put
simply, there are so many special interests involved in spending
all that money (currently over half a trillion dollars a year),
that much of the money allocated for developing and producing
new gear, is wasted. Military people have been complaining about
this for decades. Well, make that centuries. It's not a new
problem. While some good and effective weapons are produced,
it's the enormous amount of waste that is at issue. In contrast,
note how quickly and efficiently military equipment is developed
in wartime. There's a long tradition in the United States
military of creating new weapons or equipment in a very short
time. This usually only ha