Department of Defense - Expense and Globalization

There is a rather long article in the August 8, 2012 issue of Chemical and Engineering News on defense spending by the US government. The US Constitution says that the powers of the Federal Government shall be limited, but it does include a responsibility to "provide for the common defense". Note that it says defense rather than offense. The annual expense for the Department of Defense in 2012 is $74 billion. This Is about $1000 per year for a family of four. Too much? Too little?

The $74 billion is being used to pay the salaries of 60,000 employees in 67 defense labs, including purchase of equipment and supplies. On the surface that seems excessive, but we should reserve judgment until this is actually analyzed to see what kind of duplication and other inefficiencies there may be and what savings may possibly be obtained. It is the responsibility of Congress to continually investigate this and other details of expenditures in government operations and make appropriate adjustments on fund allocation as necessary.

I also see use of the word "global" in the discussion. This presumably means some sort of sharing of military technology with foreign countries, perceived as friendly. However, we may be extremely reliable at our end, but may may not be able to control the continued reliability of another partner. For example, two years ago Egypt was very friendly to the United States. It is now no longer friendly. The question is whether we have given military technology to Egypt, and whether it will now be used against us

My interpretation of "common defense" means that our defense should be private. While there may be cases where we should be operating abroad in order to forestall some military action against the United States, it does not mean to me that the people with whom we are cooperating should have access to all of our technology. In its present operation, the Department of Defense seems to be operating against the interests of the United States. For example, it has an outreach program which allows university faculty working at Department of Defense labs or at the Pentagon to help with what they say is one of the greatest challenges of the department: the globalization of science. What does that mean? The implication seems to be that our scientific determinations should be spread globally. It doesn't make sense that we should give our military technology to all of our enemies?

The DOD is even going further in considering hiring of noncitizens at sensitive laboratory locations. It is apparent that this whole system is getting out of control, and Congress needs to take a close look at the subject of confidentiality with respect to military know how, in addition to whether the Department of Defense is operating efficiently and within practical limits to justify its expense.