What an outrageous and offensive insult.
"Pentagon faces spending crisis, Gates warns; Tells Congress to act soon on military budget" by Craig Whitlock, Washington Post / January 28, 2011
OTTAWA — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon is facing a spending crisis and could be forced to make immediate cuts in training and operations because Congress has failed to approve a final budget for the military this year.
Gates said the Defense Department might have to cut projected spending by as much as $23 billion this year unless Congress acts soon. The Obama administration submitted its annual budget proposal of $549 billion for the Pentagon 11 months ago, but lawmakers have not taken a final vote.
In the meantime, Congress has agreed to temporarily fund the military and other branches of the government based on spending levels in the 2010 federal budget. That provides for about $526 billion in defense spending, Pentagon officials said, excluding the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I have a crisis on my doorstep, and I want them to deal with the crisis on my doorstep,’’ Gates said in an interview aboard his military aircraft Wednesday as he flew to Ottawa for meetings with Canadian defense officials.
Although Gates said US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan will probably be pretty well protected from any potential cuts this year, he said domestic training and maintenance would have to be curtailed for the Army, Air Force, and Navy.
“Frankly, that’s how you hollow out a military, even in wartime,’’ Gates said.
For nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Pentagon has benefited from huge spending increases authorized by Congress.
CUI BONO?
But with the war in Iraq winding down and the US government facing record deficits, some in Congress have said the Pentagon should not escape scrutiny. And Gates has increasingly had to fight to shield the military from budget cutters.
On Jan. 6, Gates announced that the Obama administration would cut $78 billion over the next five years from the Pentagon’s long-term spending plan. While the Defense Department’s budget would continue to grow during that time, it would do so at a much slower pace and would barely exceed inflation by 2016....
While Gates said the Pentagon could live with those trims, he warned lawmakers at the time not to go deeper, saying further reductions would be “risky at best and potentially calamitous.’’
The expense of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is also expected to drop substantially in the coming years.
In the interview Wednesday, Gates said the Obama administration would ask Congress for $120 billion in supplemental funding for the wars in 2012, down from the $159 billion it sought for this year.
Remember back when Obama said he was going to put it all on budget and ask for no more supplementals?
Although Obama has expanded the war in Afghanistan — about 97,000 troops are deployed there now, roughly triple the number when he took office two years ago — US involvement in Iraq is unwinding rapidly. All US troops are scheduled to return from Iraq by the end of the year.
But we are in no hurry.
Even as Gates tries to fend off demands from deficit hawks to cut more, he is confronting concern from other lawmakers who argue that he has gone too far.
Representative Howard “Buck’’ McKeon, a California Republican who is the new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said he is not happy with the proposed $78 billion in long-term reductions, adding that it makes little sense to talk about shrinking the Army and Marine Corps while the nation is still fighting two wars....
Then let's end them!
Some lawmakers, mindful of the economic benefits that defense contractors bring to their districts, questioned Gates’s decision to kill the Marines’ amphibious landing craft, known as the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Still others criticized the Pentagon’s proposal to increase health care premiums for military retirees for the first time since 1995....
Gates’s battles with Congress come as his four-year tenure as defense secretary is nearing an end. He has said he hopes to retire this year.
In the interview, he would not answer when asked for specifics about his retirement plans.
“My lips are sealed,’’ he said, before adding, “I’m going to be around for a number of months.’’
Then Joe Lieberman will be taking over.
--more--"
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“This is not [just] an Army problem. This is a civilian problem that we’re receiving, and fixing.’’
Yeah, the military is great at "fixing" things.
Just look at the rebuilding jobs they have done in Iraq and Afghanistan.
