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Defense Cuts Good – Military Effectiveness
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- Obama’s cuts create a leaner, more versatile military
- Obama plans for a leaner military and slows in defense budget growth
Defense Cuts Good – Military EffectivenessDefense cuts are necessary for military efficiency and focusConcord Monitor, ’11 (Concord Monitor, October 2011, “Romney's wrong on defense spending,” Concord Monitor, p. Proquest) It is easy to score points in a Republican presidential primary by talking tough and pledging to increase America's military might. That's exactly what Mitt Romney did in a speech this month, pledging to reverse President Obama's "massive defense cuts." Trouble is, no such cuts were ever made. Military spending is higher under President Obama than under George W. Bush. If elected, Romney said, he would expand the Navy, deploy carriers off Iran's coast, beef up missile defenses and increase spending on cyber-security. The latter is a necessity. Critical systems are far too vulnerable to internet attacks and cyber-snooping. But the rest of Romney's proposals are off-base. Defense spending should be cut significantly, not increased, and military priorities revisited. Does it make sense, for example, to have more troops in military bands than there are foreign service officers whose negotiations can make the use of military force less necessary? Does the United States really need to subsidize our allies' defense budgets by stationing 40,000 troops in Europe? The answer to both is no. Military spending increased by 70 percent between the Sept.11 attacks and the end of 2009. It now totals more than $700 billion per year. If the bipartisan congressional "super-committee" charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget cuts by Thanksgiving fails in its mission, $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts will go into effect. They will be split roughly evenly between defense and domestic spending other than on Social Security, Medicaid and anti-poverty programs. The defense cuts would total $600 billion or more over the next decade, but that much and possibly more can and should be cut. The Bowles-Simpson commission the president created in hopes of reaching a bipartisan compromise on the nation's budget recommend $750 billion in defense cuts over 10 years. Some security experts say even bigger reductions could be made without compromising national security. Excessive military spending, including the $150 billion spent each year to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is making the United States weaker, not stronger. The United States spends almost as much money on defense as the rest of the world combined, yet the biggest enemy the nation faces is its debt. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the armed forces should shrink, albeit not radically or rapidly. Military retirement and health care benefit systems should be revisited. They now consume one out of every three dollars of defense spending. Under current rules, a veteran who served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan can't qualify for a pension unless he or she has served at least 20 years. Meanwhile, a veteran who enlisted at 18 can retire at age 38 and collect a pension for 40 or more years. Partial pensions should be awarded veterans who serve for a minimum of eight or 10 years, but that should be offset by not allowing military pensions to be collected until a normal retirement age. Military spending should be retargeted, aimed less at building big ships and aircraft carriers, as Romney wants, and more on intelligence-gathering and the tools needed to fight stateless terrorists and rogue states. A strong American military is a deterrent that's worth paying for, but a strong military won't make up for a weak economy dragged down by debt. Defense Cuts Good – Military Effectiveness Obama’s cuts create a leaner, more versatile militaryBaker, 2012 (Peter Baker, staff writer for the New York Times, 5/24/2012, “Military Will Remain Strong With Cuts, Obama Tells Cadets,” New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/us/politics/military-will-withstand-cuts-obama-says.html) President Obama vowed on Wednesday to keep the military strong even as he winds down the wars of the last decade and takes the budget knife to Pentagon spending in an age of increasing government austerity. Addressing the graduating cadets of the Air Force Academy, Mr. Obama said spending cuts were inevitable for the armed forces but he promised to guard against reductions that would compromise the nation's security. Dismissing talk of national decline, he described an ''American century'' in which the United States would continue to flourish. ''Yes, as today's wars end, our military, and our Air Force, will be leaner,'' he told a stadium filled with the blue uniforms of the next generation of pilots and other officers. ''But as commander in chief, I will not allow us to make the mistakes of the past. We still face very serious threats. As we've seen in recent weeks, with Al Qaeda in Yemen, there are still terrorists who seek to kill our citizens.'' He added: ''We'll keep our military, and our Air Force, fast and flexible and versatile. We will maintain our military superiority in all areas: air, land, sea, space and cyber.'' Mr. Obama's commencement address was his first at a military academy since the last American troops left Iraq, ending nearly nine years of conflict, and came just days after he agreed with NATO allies on a plan to close out the combat mission in Afghanistan. In effect, he used the occasion to outline a vision for the next stage in the nation's struggle against terrorism, one that shifts away from large commitments of ground troops and relies more on diplomatic and economic power while drawing on more help from allies. ''You are the first class in nine years that will graduate into a world where there are no Americans fighting in Iraq,'' Mr. Obama said. ''For the first time in your lives -- and thanks to Air Force personnel who did their part -- Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to our country. We've put Al Qaeda on the path to defeat. And you are the first graduates since 9/11 who can clearly see how we'll end the war in Afghanistan.'' He said that his policies would end those wars while still making the country safer, and he noted that the graduates would have fewer deployments and more time to train and rest between missions than their predecessors. But Mr. Obama went into little detail about how financial restraints would affect the Air Force and the military at large. He has proposed a spending plan for the Pentagon that includes nearly $480 billion in cuts over 10 years, but that amount could increase sharply if his administration and Congress do not reach agreement on a plan to avoid deeper automatic cuts currently programmed into law. Republicans have said Mr. Obama is already cutting the armed forces too deeply. Obama plans for a leaner military and slows in defense budget growthKeyes, 2012 (Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer, Jan 5, 2012, “Obama unveils plans for pared-down military,” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/05/politics/pentagon-strategy-shift/index.html) Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama unveiled his administration's plans Thursday for a leaner, cheaper military, a reflection of Washington's fiscal belt-tightening and slower national economic growth. The president insisted the new strategy -- which eliminates the military's ability to actively fight two major wars at once -- will allow U.S. armed forces to effectively combat terrorism while confronting any new threats from countries like China and Iran. "Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow, because we have global responsibilities that demand our leadership," Obama announced during a rare presidential visit to the Pentagon. "I firmly believe, and I think the American people understand, that we can keep our military strong -- and our nation secure -- with a defense budget that continues to be larger than roughly the next 10 countries combined." Security Clearance: Does a smaller military make sense? Alluding to the end of the U.S. military role in Iraq and plans to eventually withdraw from Afghanistan, Obama declared that "the tide of war is receding." "The question that this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need after the long wars of the last decade are over," the president told reporters. "Yes, our military will be leaner, but the world must know: The United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats." Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. Objective files -> Pop Warner History files -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose files -> Fall 2013 Spring 2014 Program Data: Standard 1 Exhibit 4d files -> Hanban – asia society confucius classrooms network 2010 request for proposal files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations Download 1.8 Mb. Share with your friends:
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