"Political benefits and costs" FOR WHOM?! I.e. an Air Force Marshal who follows your advice will get fired or tried for treason. One who orders to strike the thunder-running column with Hornets will at best be a national hero and at worst, would blame dead pilots on politicians underfunding him.
McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgYARDCGChances are, they would "merely" purge the entire military leadership top-to-bottom and replace them with the people who would fight and THEN vastly increase their budget; but if they don't believe they could find such people, the rational response would be to defund all of it.