Why Are We Rusing To Cut Defense Spending?

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen hold a press briefing on "DoD Efficiencies" that mark the next major step in the Defense Department's reform agenda in the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 6, 2011. DoD photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison, U.S. Air Force.

The Risky Rush to Cut Defense Spending -- Newsweek

No one has figured out how to make cuts without jeopardizing security.

As we begin a new year, the United States is at a major crossroads in foreign policy. The end of 2010 saw North Korea’s assault on the disputed Yeonpyeong Island, the revelation that Pyongyang had developed a secret, highly sophisticated uranium enrichment plant with 2,000 centrifuges, and, of course, the massive WikiLeaks dump that jeopardized diplomacy around the world.

These incidents are just a few highlights of the foreign policy complications the U.S. must deal with, in addition to the ongoing challenges to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions, prevent al Qaeda threats from around the globe, and fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet for mostly good and some bad reasons, all the discussion back at home is about how to reduce defense spending, without giving any serious attention to what we need to do to maintain the strongest possible defense to meet the myriad challenges before us.

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My Comment: This is a well written article from Newsweek. It provides a good summary of what is happening .... and asks the right questions on "are we doing the right thing". The last paragraph summarizes everything perfectly .....

..... We must have this debate on how and where to cut defense spending as a country and bring this discussion to the forefront of our national discourse, rather than simply rely on policymakers or the defense industry to make these decisions on their own. Washington is not known for coming together over many issues, but considering our enormous deficit during a time when national security clearly must not be sacrificed, all sides are going to need to work together. If we fail to do so, WikiLeaks will be the least of our problems this new year.

On a side note, Foreign Policy Magazine looks at the math.

Cutting Defense Too Deeply -- A Commentary

Paratroopers conduct airborne operations from a Colorado Army National Guard CH-47D Chinook helicopter assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, into the snow-covered terrain of Fort Carson, Colo., Dec. 10, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Liesl Marelli, Colorado National Guard

From Washington Times:

The hollow defense budgets, peace dividends and the procurement holiday that marked the Clinton administration's defense policy appear to be making a comeback.

The message hidden between the lines of the 2010 Defense Department budget released last week is that defense spending will decline in the coming years and that the military will be forced to do more with less. We've been down this road before; we cannot repeat the same mistakes.

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My Commentary: Philosophically, President Obama and his allies have no love for the military. While their intention will always be to limit the growth of the military .... realities on the ground can (and probably will) easily interrupt these plans.

Iran, North Korea, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the implosion of many failed states .... cutbacks in defense will be very hard to implement in such a real and dangerous environment. The "peace dividend" does not make sense when there is so much instability in the world.

But will the U.S. Defense Budget still be cut? They will try, but Congress and their defense supporters are a very powerful group .... and it is they who will decide what any defense procurement will be.

The U.S. Defense Budget -- A Commentary

Don't Give Peace a Chance
-- Armchair Generalist

SHORTER Robert Kagan: "Any reductions in the defense budget will result in deepening the economic crisis, reducing our allies' faith in our abilities, encouraging our adversaries, and will make Republicans cry."

I had planned a longer post on this issue, but honestly, I didn't have the energy. There are other groups, such as the Center for American Progress and the Project on Defense Alternatives, who have proposed smarter and more efficient alternatives than the current DOD budget. Let's not even get into the point that the Obama administration is pushing for an 8 percent increase over the FY09 budget, which will ensure that the US government does not have to make any tough calls about defense spending cuts. And we should not have to remind anyone that our defense budget has constantly grown from 2001, when it was $301 billion, to the present suggested FY10 budget of $527 billion, or that the US defense budget nearly equals every other nation's spending on defense.

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My Comment: A short and concise review from the Armchair Generalist.

The money quote from his post is the following:

The discussion ought to be on what the United State's grand strategy is, and what tools do we need in defense, foreign policy, intelligence, and economics to achieve that strategy.

I am in complete agreement with that sentence.

Weapon Procurements, Economic Benefits, And Government Policy -- A Commentary

F-16 Assembly Line (Photo from Adl.Gatech)

Observing The Influence of Loren Thompson -- Information Dissemination

Dr. Loren Thompson is what I would call a Defense Industry Analyst, I read his perspective as shaped by and for the defense industry. That is not an insult, although I could see how some will read it that way. His recommendations root in industry, not strategy, so when he gives a warning about industry related problems, the problems are real.

Lex recently noted that back in December, Dr. Thompson gave some interesting advice to the Aerospace industry.

The second step is to show some imagination in leveraging any insights you have about how relevant audiences get their information.

If you don't sponsor blogs then maybe you should, and if you do sponsor blogs maybe you should upgrade them, or make more of an effort to attract people to them.

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