Rather than try to settle this impossible question, letme concede to those who wish to slash defense spending that history has not dealt kindly with geopolitical superpowers that have overextended themselves militarily and fiscally.
It is useless to try to influence either school of thought since they are well entrenched in their beliefs, so letme write this for us old timers who have seen enough uncertainty, broken promises and false projections to choose skepticism over hope.