Nearing Midnight: The Global Arms Race -

Nearing Midnight: The Global Arms Race - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html

 

Business is booming for the world's arms merchants. While the U.S. and Europe have been cutting back their military budgets, nations mostly in Asia and the Middle East have been in an undeclared arms race. More than 23 countries have more than doubled their military expenditure since 2004.

 

India is a perfect example of this ramp-up. Last year, it became the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. arms. New Delhi has among the world's largest naval building program with 45 warships and submarines under construction. It also has a deal in the works to buy Rafale fighter jets from France.

 

Russia has boosted its military budget. For the first time in ten years, Russia has spent a higher percentage of its national wealth on its military than the United States. A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute finds that U.S. military spending represents only 3.8 percent of its GDP, while Russia has increased its arms budget to 4.1 percent of GDP in 2013.

 

China's defense budget has risen eightfold in twenty years. It recently showed off its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. China enjoys a huge lead over its longtime rival, Japan-with combat aircraft at 2,525 to 630, main battle tanks at 6,840 to 777 and tactical submarines at 66 to 18.

 

Even Japan, after having a level of defense spending for forty years, will be breaking ground on a military radar station on a tropical island off Taiwan. The radar station is part of a plan to give Japan a lookout just 150 km (93 miles) from the Japanese-held island.

 

Some of the smaller Asian nations are seeing the largest increases in military spending. Here are a few examples:

 

Armenia: $427 million in 2013, up 115 percent since 2004.

 Azerbaijan: $3.44 billion in 2013, up 493 percent since 2004.

 Georgia: $443 million in 2013, up 230 percent since 2004.

 Kazakhstan: $2.8 billion in 2013, up 248 percent since 2004.

 Afghanistan: $350 million, up 77 percent in 2013 alone.

 

Liberals see no need for us to be alarmed by these escalating military budgets. They point out that America still vastly outspends its nearest rivals. In 2013, U.S. military spending was $640 billion, compared to an estimated $188 billion for China and $87.8 billion for Russia. They also point to our superior technology as a reason to stay calm.

 

These dollar value numbers are comparisons of apples to oranges. We may spend $4 billion building a battle ship while Russia and China only spend $100 million. This is part of the reason why China has a naval strength of 972 ships to our 290. China has 2.5 million soldiers while the U.S. has 1.3 million.

 

Over the years our military has also become incredibly blotted, requiring vast amounts of money and manpower to perform the same task. At one time, the Strategic Air Command, the organization that controlled the Air force's nuclear forces was located in a Building A, a three story building at Offutt Air Force base that had 22,000 square feet.

 

When I was in the Air Force, SAC had moved to a vastly larger called Building 500. Last year, I was stunned to learn that yet another command center was under construction. At nearly a million square feet, the headquarters of what is now called STRATCOM will cost $500 million.

 

Since the Air Force has closed numerous bases and cut its nuclear forces by two-thirds, STRATCOM should go back to Building A, but that won't happen. They don't call it the vast industrial-military-complex for nothing.

 

The technological advantage we once enjoyed is rapidly vanishing. As other nations modernize their militaries, it is becoming expensive on an exponential scale for us to stay ahead of our foes. One such example is the new Chinese missile-a modified Dong Feng 21-that can destroy carriers or any other warship within a 2,000 kilometer range from its launching point. In order to safeguard our navy against this missile, we would need to deploy an expensive weapon system on each ship.

 

This latest arms race has "prophecy" written all over it. Political leaders may talk about the need for peace, very little has been done to prevent the world from sliding into the abyss. The military hardware being developed today will eventually find its way onto the battlefields of the Tribulation hour.

 

"Proclaim this among the nations: 'Prepare for war!' Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, 'I am strong'" (Joel 3:9-10).