The costs associated with maintaining armed forces that deter aggression are vastly less than those involved in waging wars, particularly on a global scale.
If, as the guide posits, one U.S. goal is to lessen the pressure on America's conventional armed forces and deter aggression, modernization and minimal cuts to the arsenal would make more sense.
Lady Margaret Thatcher, in appearances today on all three U.S. network morning news programs, denounced Western inaction to date and demanded that the victims of that aggression be immediately armed and supported by a vigorous allied air campaign.