Something Is Happening Here

“There’s something happening here; what it is ain’t exactly clear.”—Buffalo Springfield

The United States is arguably the richest country in the world, both in economic output and overall net wealth. Our annual GDP exceeds $32 trillion, and we spend more on our military than the next six countries combined—more than $950 billion a year.

President Donald Trump is the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, and Pete Hegseth serves as Secretary of Defense. That raises an obvious question: How did the world’s most expensive military become so strained in its confrontation with Iran, whose military ranks 16th in the world? The United States spends roughly 120 to 130 times more on its military than Iran does.

Mismanagement is one possible explanation.

Here we are, reportedly running short of air-defense interceptors and long-range precision-guided missiles because we are, in effect, swatting drone mosquitoes with howitzers. We have depleted nearly 80% of our THAAD interceptors and 65% of our Patriot missiles at a cost of $26 billion in a conflict that was characterized not as a war, but as an emergency. U.S. policy reportedly calls for firing two missiles at each drone to ensure a successful interception. If so, we are spending roughly $10 million in missiles to destroy a drone that costs about $35,000.

We also moved the USS Abraham Lincoln from California in November 2025 to indefinitely block Iranian ports. Its 5,000-member crew has reportedly spent more than 250 days at sea without a single port visit to rest or recuperate. During that time, the Lincoln launched more than 10,000 combat flights while facing continuous drone and missile threats from Iran.

Meanwhile, conditions aboard the ship reportedly deteriorated. The crew dealt with broken toilets, malfunctioning air conditioning, food rationing, and contaminated water. More than 600 sailors lost their sleeping quarters for months following a laundry-room fire. Reports of suicidal thoughts and depression among crew members were reportedly ignored. On August 3, 2026, one sailor attempted suicide by jumping overboard.

That sailor now reportedly faces punishment at captain’s mast for malingering.

Perhaps he simply missed Secretary Hegseth’s policy memorandum regarding testosterone replacement therapy. That policy was directed at troops over the age of 30, with the stated goal of maximizing their “lethality” and combating the physical and mental fatigue associated with military service. The sailor who attempted suicide was only 19 years old, a married new father, and therefore might not have been eligible under the policy as described.

There has always been room for improvement in the operation of our military. Nevertheless, I would argue that we have the best military that money can buy. The problem is that we have also spent enormous sums on expensive military hardware without always demonstrating that those expenditures translate into effective battlefield outcomes.

Certainly, a $350 million Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor looks “cooler” than a $30,000 drone. But looking impressive is not the same thing as being cost-effective.

Operational mismanagement at the highest levels has reportedly cost the nation more than $37.5 billion in Pentagon losses, while the Pentagon is now seeking a supplemental budget of another $67 billion. By some estimates, the overall cost to taxpayers has already exceeded $113 billion.

As Tennessee Ernie Ford sang in his coal-mining classic Sixteen Tons, we are “another day older and deeper in debt.”

Yet, in the estimation of President Donald Trump and his sycophantic associates, apparently we can afford endless war, ever-expanding military budgets, reckless tariffs, the alienation of our allies, a gold ballroom, and tax cuts for the wealthy.

What we apparently cannot afford are affordable health care, housing, groceries, child care, and education; investments in our fragile power grid, water security, and renewable energy; or reasonable care for our elderly.

Something is happening here. The United States has more wealth, more military spending, and more advanced weaponry than any nation on Earth. If we are nevertheless exhausting our defenses, degrading the readiness of our troops, and piling additional costs onto an already staggering national debt, perhaps the problem is not how much we spend—but how poorly we spend it.