Balancing Strategy And Budgets -- Armed Forces Journal
“Five times in the last 90 years, the United States has disarmed after a conflict: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and then the Cold War,” testified Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Capitol Hill in March.
Will Iraq make six?
The chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, John Murtha, D-Pa., recently predicted as much. He snapped his fingers for effect and said he expected procurement funding would dry up once the Iraq war ends. Unfortunately, political pressure to reduce defense spending overall is growing. A general perception holds that the battle in Iraq constitutes the entirety of the war effort, so when major combat operations there wind down, the American people would be entitled to a new peace dividend.
Here’s the difference: The last five times we demobilized after a war, we’d mobilized first.
The Iraq war was not only fought without prior mobilization, but it followed a decadelong procurement holiday. If our country cuts the defense budget now without considering America’s worldwide responsibilities or the likely geopolitical landscape the U.S. will face over the next five to 10 years, we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. That’s especially true because the U.S. does not spend enough today to meet its security commitments beyond Iraq.
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My Comment: There will be no decrease in military budget requests or needs. The world is clearly entering a dangerous phase right now .... and the U.S. is not going to abdicate their commitments to their allies abroad .... especially those who are involved in warfare today.