Originally Posted by
tequila
I'd argue for two main reasons. Historically the Army's status while fighting those small wars has not been a high one. Those wars (Banana Wars, Plains Indians Wars, Philippine insurrection) were generally not looked on as major national priorities and the Army was treated as such. Only when the nation felt a genuine threat (WWI, WWII, Civil War, Cold War) did the armed forces rise in both social and economic status. Upon achieving institutional prominence, normal institutional and bureaucratic preservation factors kick in. Few bureaucracies are are willingly downsized.
Also, those wars arguably did not constitute major investments of national interest. The nation would not have suffered unduly if the Banana Wars had never been fought or won, or if Dewey had handed Aguinaldo independence in 1899. Arguably the Army is not like any other government service - it is the government's ultimate insurance policy, and as such should prepare first and foremost for the ultimate emergency - a war for national survival, which will always be a big, conventional war and not a tiny foreign insurgency.
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