Special Guest Bill Buppert

Find us at www.crisisinvesting.com Find Bill at https://substack.com/@cgpodcast The U.S. Military Is a Trillion-Dollar Paper Tiger—Drones, Carriers, and Strategic Failure The hosts interview retired U.S. Army officer and military historian Bill Buppert, fellow at the Libertarian Institute and host of the Chasing Ghosts podcast, about U.S. military shortcomings and strategic failures since 1945. Buppert argues the Pentagon fields expensive "exquisite platforms" that are unfit for 21st-century peer conflict, citing lost influence in the Middle East and Africa and recurring defeats or stalemates in Iraq and Afghanistan. He critiques procurement and consolidation after the 1993 "Last Supper," and highlights troubled systems including the Zumwalt, Littoral Combat Ship, Ford-class EMALS, aircraft carriers, and the F-35's low readiness rates. He emphasizes the revolution of cheap FPV/UAV warfare, salvo competition in air defense, depleted munitions stockpiles (including Stingers), limited U.S. homeland missile defense, and vulnerabilities such as container-launched drones. The conversation also covers Ukraine's prospects against Russia, NATO red lines, Iran's terrain and history, and the importance of considering moral injury in war. 00:00 Meet Bill Buppert 01:52 Paper Tiger Pentagon 04:56 Iraq War Blowback 06:24 Rakes and Stupidity 10:22 Bureaucracy and Budgets 12:05 Navy Procurement Fails 14:05 Carrier and EMALS Risks 18:49 Drones Change Warfare 24:13 Defense Industry Monopoly 27:20 Salvo Competition IAMD 31:46 Carriers vs China Math 36:28 F-35 Readiness Disaster 39:56 Homeland Missile Defense Limits 42:58 Smuggled Nukes and Drones 44:22 Homeland Attack Scenarios 46:06 Civil Defense Blind Spot 47:12 Empire Mindset and 9/11 48:25 Bring Policy Home 51:14 Bureaucracy and Defense Waste 53:07 Drones Change Warfare 54:43 Why COIN Fails 56:58 Ukraine Forecast and NATO 59:57 Iran Nukes and Regional Power 01:08:09 Homeschooling and Trades 01:11:29 Iran Terrain and History 01:14:12 Moral Injury and Farewell