http://www.globalfirepower.com/

Who think this website is npt reliable and why, i know they don't take tecnology into account, but personnaly im just happy Sweden is one step before Israel.

Hi EagleHammer
When to the site check out one thing here below http://www.globalfirepower.com/list_aircraft.asp

I happened to be looking for how many operational Mirage 2000s Peru still has and didn't see Peru even on the list. The list show Nepal having 18 aircraft but leaves out a country with more then 200 aircraft. The other problem I have with is the data is listed from 2004 you could find other sites which have newer data and give a little more detail. The site could be useful I just question the inventory page right off the bat.

Hope that helps a little

Are we suppose not to talk about it?

NOTE: Nuclear weapons, past and current military experience, unit training and equipment quality are not taken into account.

That pretty much says it all right there. On paper Russia's military looks like it has actually improved since 1991, but the paper doesn't mention that only 1/3 of the equipment listed has been maintained in a state of combat readiness. Iraq, ahead of Venezuela and Libya? At least those two nations are independent nations with militaries maintained by their own government. Spain's ahead of Pakistan? (Yet managed to fight number four on the list to a stand still five times) Great Britain is tenth even though their Navy could easily trump numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 on this list? On a planet that's surface is 2/3's water, one could argue that a Navy is pretty important. Argentina ahead of Sweden, Israel and and Taiwan? There's a frickin random thrown in there, has Argentina rebuilt since getting trumped by the United Kingdom in 1982? Why does this list refer to the United Kingdom as Great Britain? In the seventh grade science fair a kid was considered incorrect because he said Great Britain instead of the United Kingdom. This list is at best incomplete and inaccurate, the UK should be number two or three, unlike China they actually have the ability to project their power beyond their borders, China may have a large army, but their Navy can't even cross the 112 miles from China to Taiwan. Definitely a lot more work needed here.

Again it's a rubbish list based on rubbish supporting evidence in a poor attempt to prove nothing.

Aust is just behind Pakistan and well ahead of Israel. Interesting.

As for military expenditure we spend almost double what Canada does and are just under India's budget. Although I think we have eclipsed their spending this year.

EagleHammer, if it makes you feel any better, US power is declining currently and there isn't any real suggestion to say there will be a reversal in this trend. It may be a long time before the US can actually find itself winning an armed conflict... it might be a long time before the US military and intelligence agencies will be granted the legal backing to do their jobs. By then it might be too late.
Who gives a crap if you've got the most accurate sniper rifle assigned to the best sniper in the world under your command if it is illegal to use him in any meaningful manner?

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

EagleHammer, if it makes you feel any better, US power is declining currently and there isn't any real suggestion to say there will be a reversal in this trend. It may be a long time before the US can actually find itself winning an armed conflict... it might be a long time before the US military and intelligence agencies will be granted the legal backing to do their jobs. By then it might be too late.
Who gives a crap if you've got the most accurate sniper rifle assigned to the best sniper in the world under your command if it is illegal to use him in any meaningful manner?

Throwin the b******t flag here. Let's see some evidence for this claim. The United States has the numbers of India and China in terms of military size and technology equal to or superior to that of Western Europe and Russia. Our military expenditure is 50% of the world's total military expenditures. Our troops have been tested in battle, have an excellent logistical support system, and a single US Navy aircraft carrier holds more air power than most other countries can hope to match. I guess one could argue that we are behind Lithuania in the use of WWII era destroyers or piston engine fighter airplanes and that could be a sign of our imminent demise. The world's largest Navy and Air Force apparently isn't enough because China and India could put more (under trained) boots on the ground. Neither country can really move their Army over a body of water greater than 27ft in width but they still have more men in uniform, no body armor or weapon, but a uniform.

I have never questioned that the US military is the most powerful in the world. This is a fact. But the political will of the country is simply not strong enough to win any war whatsoever. I would argue that the political will of the US and the complexities of the laws which govern what this military can do overseas is incredible considering the level of difficulty the conflict in the middle east.
Consider these:
- 5 US soldiers dying in a day in Iraq makes headlines. Al Qaeda and other militants over there don't care how many they lose as long as they have volunteers coming in, and there doesn't seem to be a shortage.
- Less than 4000 American servicemen have died in Iraq in a conflict that is now over 4 years old. This is being considered unacceptable. 4000 in 4 years is historically a very low death rate.
- America can't stand a war that isn't over in time for monday night football. (okay so I exaggerate a bit)
- The insurgency in Iraq is popular throughout the Muslim world.
- The war effort in Iraq is unpopular in the US.
You see, I don't question the military might of the US. In any conventional fight of beat 'em up, the US would trump any country in the world, twice over perhaps. But the issue is political. Politically the US cannot eliminate its most important enemies with extreme prejudice, it cannot shoot or conduct operations against mosques where all kinds of nasty stuff is stored. On the home front, mosques that teach extremist teachings are difficult to monitor because it would be "racist."
You tell me how we're supposed to win.

Let me give you a situation very much like it.
I'm standing guard at a guard post. Cars come in and out and so do people. I have no authority to stop or question anyone coming in unless they look "dangerous." I have an automatic rifle but I'm only outfitted with blanks. I am trained in various forms of hand to hand combat but I am forbidden under any circumstance other than in self defense to hit anyone... and then of course not even that if that person is a higher ranking NCO or officer. There is no gate. They don't think it looks very good and that it would just cause traffic jams. No bomb detection equipment is issued, although we have a few of those in storage. There is no bayonet, though even if there were any, we'd be forbidden to use them.
Two drunk and screaming senior NCOs run through causing mayhem.
I think you get the picture.

Now it has Germany and France down as major oil producers, I wonder where the oil wells are????