Letters: ‘Defense’ spending

Re “America’s ‘Pacific pivot’ craze,” Opinion, July 2

Max Boot calls the Obama administration’s proposed military budget cuts “draconian.” Surely he is aware of the concept of the “defense” budget.

I emphasize the word due to the fact that, believe it or not, there are some who think the function of theU.S. militaryhas far exceeded its stated purpose (the defense of our country) and is now more about “offense.” Example: The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, but its annual “defense” budget is about 40% of the world’s total military spending.

Michael Barton

Huntington Beach

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