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Jan. 5, 2011: President Obama announces cuts to the growth in the defense budget in a rare appearance by a president at the Pentagon briefing room.
Whose bright idea was it for the president of the United States to unveil his defense budget cuts the cusp of a crisis with Iran and in the Pentagon’s briefing room? -- What were they thinking?
Perhaps they think it makes President Obama look like a tough commander in chief to announce he’s slashing the defense budget with the victims standing right behind him.
Perhaps they think it’s a smart political move that will appeal to his anti-war base, cutting defense while keeping entitlements whole.
Perhaps they hope to discredit any off-the-record complaints to Congress or the press from military officials who fear the cuts endanger national security.
Perhaps they think it gives credibility to President Obama’s lead from behind strategy; that without a robust military the U.S. will have no choice but to be part of a coalition.
Perhaps these points make sense for a president whose sights are set on winning reelection, and who never intends to make good on threats to use military force if necessary.
But the problem with any presidential statement, whether given from the Oval Office or the Pentagon briefing room is that there are more audiences tuning in than just those who vote in U.S. presidential elections.
So how will President Obama’s decision to cut the defense budget be seen around the world? What are they to make of his going from a military capable of fighting two wars to a military which can only fight one war, and which is already bogged down in Afghanistan?
If you’re the Taliban you realize the president can’t keep the Afghan war going for long, and it’s only a matter of time before you can walk back into Afghanistan.
If you’re China you figure the president might say he’s pivoting U.S. defense strategy to Asia, but is cutting the bandwidth to accomplish it. So there is no reason to hold back building a Chinese blue water navy and expanding into the South China Sea, or getting tough with Taiwan, or continuing a secret cyberwar against America’s industrial base, military and civilian infrastructure.
If you’re North Korea you realize President Obama isn’t likely to rush to South Korea’s aid if you provoke a military crisis.
If you’re Israel you’re coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that you’re on your own in dealing with Iran.
If you’re Iran you realize President Obama will do anything to keep oil prices oil low, including let you get nuclear weapons, push your weight around in the Middle East, and rush in to fill the vacuum left by departing U.S. forces. The president may say ‘all options are on the table’ and that it is ‘unacceptable’ for Iran to become a nuclear weapons state, but it’s looking increasingly like an empty threat. You realize this is your moment.
And, if you’re of the mind that America is a declining power, that its best days are behind it, that it will no longer keep open the seas lanes of communication and commerce, or honor all its treaty commitments, then you have just seen demonstrable evidence of it from the American commander in the chief.
The U.S. made some tragic strategic mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq. While our military performed bravely and brilliantly in both wars, our political leaders -- of both parties -- failed us. They tried a unrealistic nation building strategy in Afghanistan and failed to shut down the Taliban safe havens in Pakistan. They toppled Saddam Hussein, but failed to create a strong, pro-American Iraq in his place.
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We do need to cut defense spending, and redraw the U.S. military to focus less on land wars and more on sea power, missile defense and civilian and military cyber-defense.
Even so, we can repair our economy, maintain peace through strength and resume our position as leader of the free world. But we can't do it while swinging a meat ax at the U.S. military, or cutting back on the care of our wounded warriors or returning veterans.
When I came into the Pentagon at the beginning of the Reagan administration we found ships that couldn’t sail for lack of fuel, planes that couldn’t fly because pilots didn’t have the minimum training hours, and tanks that were patched together with spare parts cannibalized from other equipment. And most shameful of all, we had Vietnam Veterans whose medical needs were not met, and enlisted military personnel whose pay was so low they qualified for food stamps.
That was the legacy of the Carter administration’s defense cutbacks.
The legacy of the Obama cuts will be even worse, and invite aggression against U.S. interests around the world. Because, guess what, President Obama has only begun to cut back on America’s defenses. There is another half trillion dollars of cuts on the horizon. Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland is a Fox News National Security Analyst and host of FoxNews.com's DefCon 3. She is a Distinguished Adviser to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. She wrote Secretary of Defense Weinberger’s November 1984 "Principles of War Speech" which laid out the Weinberger Doctrine. Be sure to watch "K.T." every Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET on FoxNews.com's "DefCon3"-- already one of the Web's most watched national security programs.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
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"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency........... Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
A lot of people, republicans including, ahem Ron Paul are calling for $500,000,000 in military budget cuts.
I think he's talking streamlined military.
Do you not like the idea of $500,000,000 in savings for the US gov't? ie 1/2 billion dollars? and wouldn't that be per year....?
The Dems already did that just like they chopped 500,000,000 from Medicare last year.
Its not that the money needed to be cut. You however have no clue as to why and how. You only blindly support whatever BS they throw out. For the first time in over 70 years, we won't be able to fight 2 wars. Not very smart thinking.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Nutless and spineless. Whores to the far left. Unfortunately, the sheer stupidity will be measured in body bags when we are forced to engage Iran for threatening our existence as a nation. Even that blithering, road-apple gobbling idiot Sal don't wanna pay 10 or 12 bucks a gallon of gas, and even if they were willing, they could not afford the price of food which is carried in diesel-fueled trucks...morons. Hey Sal...that dizzy feeling you have is from the Demokrats circling the toilet. THe feeling wil get worse and worse as election day nears at which point, you will be flushed. And rightfully so.
Why is Obama rushing so quickly to cut military personnel, yet they scream bloody murder if a single cop is cut?
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
There won't be too many boots on the ground if we get into it with Iran, if any at all. Won't be that kind of war, if it's a war at all. "Shock and Awe" will look like childs play.
Personnel costs are eating the US military alive. The only way to reverse this trend is a universal draft: We know how well that plays out with John Q. Public.
In order to attract qualified troops the US military is forced to recruit some who have wives and kids. i have news for McFarland, some US military troops and their families are on food stamps today:
The US Army had 45,000 more troops on active duty in 2011 than in 2007. The USMC had 15,000 more troops on active duty in 2011 than in 2007. Military personnel strengths from 1940-2011:
Cut military at a time when our sworn enemy is threatening us?
