"Anders Fogh Rasmussen makes a compelling case about the West's need for a rejuvenated defense-industrial base ("The West Needs a War Footing," op-ed, March 29). He uses as an example President Franklin D. Roosevelt's mobilizing of William Knudsen and others to produce the needed sinews and weapons of war. Sadly, the analogy of eight decades ago no longer fits today.
First, the depression left a vast pool of manpower for this endeavor. Second, weapons were far simpler and cheaper. A typical fighter cost about $30,000 at the time, and there were dozens of small aircraft companies available to build them. Warships weren't that complex, and the U.S. had many shipyards to build them in weeks, not years. The two Vinson-Trammell naval bills had already laid the keels for what would be a 6,000-ship navy.
Regulations were virtually nonexistent. If anyone believes that the Manhattan Project could have built the atomic bomb in today's environment, he is sadly mistaken. Worse, given the huge uncontrolled real annual cost growth for all defense items, the more we spend on our militaries, the more our forces continue to shrink here and in Europe.
What is needed is a realistic strategy that takes this into account. Otherwise, the polemics and warnings will continue and nothing will change.
Harlan Ullman
Washington" [1]
One elephant in the room: Everything is produced now in China, India, Mexico and similar places. Without people who know how to do things, nothing gets done (see Boeing). Too bad for democracy and its arsenal.
1. Democracy Has Changed. So Must Its Arsenal. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 03 Apr 2024: A.16.
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