I think all of us here share the belief that we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet, that we have to support our troops and make sure that they are properly trained, properly equipped, that they are provided with a mission that allows them to succeed. All of us here also agree that the strength of our military has to be combined with the wisdom and force of our diplomacy and that we are going to be committed to rebuilding and strengthening alliances around the world to advance American interests and American security.- President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama, while introducing his National Security Team on December 1, 2008
All of Obama’s promises come with expiration dates.
That was then. This is now: Obama has ordered his Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, to offer a budget proposal which would reduce America’s Military prowess by 1/8th, taking it down to Pre-World War II levels.
Yahoo News reports that
The proposed 13 percent reduction in the army would be carried out by 2017, a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
The spending plan is the first to “fully reflect” a transition away from a war footing that has been in place for 13 years, Hagel said at a press conference.
The plan comes amid growing fiscal pressures and after years of protracted counter-insurgency campaigns, which saw the army reach a peak of more than 566,000 troops in 2010.
Having withdrawn US forces from Iraq in 2011, President Barack Obama has promised to end America’s combat role in Afghanistan by the end of this year
The proposed cut in manpower along with plans to retire some older aircraft and reform benefits for troops could run into stiff resistance in Congress.
A senior US military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the political challenge.
“We’re going to need some help from our elected representatives to get this budget across the finish line,” the officer said.
Several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee immediately expressed reservations about the budget proposal.
Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who sits on the committee, said the proposals had the “potential to harm America’s military readiness.”
The Pentagon had previously planned to downsize the ground force to about 490,000.
But Hagel warned that to adapt to future threats “the army must accelerate the pace and increase the scale of its post-war drawdown.
Hagel also said the army national guard and reserves would be cut by five percent.
The smaller force would entail some “added risk” but it would still be able to defeat an adversary in one region while also “supporting” air and naval operations in another, he said.
The Pentagon for years had planned to ensure the army could fight two major wars at the same time but that doctrine has been abandoned.
Distinguished American Veteran, Former United States Representative Lt. Col. Allen B. West wrote the following, concerning this announcement:
Instead of “investing” in the most important task of our federal government — providing for the common defense — we shall now focus on “investing” in the expansion of the welfare nanny-state. There is no doubt where President Obama’s priorities lie.
We have departed from the maxim of “peace through strength” to a belief in “appeasement through weakness.” Obama somehow believes kumbaya is a strategic objective. And don’t give me the crap about drones, because we learned during Vietnam that a president should not be directing strikes from the White House – implemented by another failed progressive president, Lyndon Baines Johnson.
We should be examining how we create the capability and capacity to meet the challenges of the enemy globally. That means looking at each geographic AOR (Area of Responsibility; CENTCOM, AFRICOM, EUCOM, PACOM, SOUTHCOM, NORTHCOM) and ensuring they have the appropriate level of force mix to meet the threats in their AORs.
We don’t need massive endeavors into new technologies, we need a massive focus on capability to meet and defeat the enemy by way of deterrence. Of course I support the defense industry, but the defense industry shouldn’t be the drivers of our national security strategy.
For Obama and Hagel to believe taking the US Army down to pre-World War II levels is a smart decision evidences their abject stupidity in comprehending the global conflagrations in which we are embroiled — the enemy has a vote. This whole inane statement about “pivoting to the Asian-Pacific rim” is more empty rhetoric as we decimate our US Naval strength while China builds theirs.
Barack Hussein Obama cannot be seen as a Commander-in-Chief and I will never refer to him that way. His fundamental transformation of America means weakening our nation and leaving our Republic less secure. I can just imagine how appreciative and elated his Muslim Brotherhood friends are at this point, to include Turkey’s President Erdogan, as well as the mad mullahs in Iran.
Spot on.
The greatest American President in my lifetime, Ronald Reagan, once said,
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.
Reagan was a realist. He realized that, as President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt once advised, the best way to keep America safe, is to “Speak softly and carry a big stick”. Unfortunately for us, we are presently suffering through a president who speaks like a wuss and carries a feather pillow….and a prayer rug.
Until He Comes,
KJ

