Obama Must Slash Defense Budget: Study

New equipment likely to take hit as Pentagon seeks to build forces

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Nov 10, 2008 9:40 AM CST

(Newser) – Between the financial crisis, galloping budget deficits, and shifting military priorities, a Pentagon advisory group is warning that the military's current budget is “not sustainable,” and the new administration will have to choose where to make cuts, the Boston Globe reports. Weapons projects that are already billions over budget and years overdue are likely to get the ax.

The military is committed to an increase in force size, and there’s no getting around “people costs” like salaries and health care. “Taking cuts at the margin won't work this time,” a Pentagon document warns, “nor will pushing things off to later years.” Trimming big-ticket projects, however, will surely be politically unpopular in constituencies that stand to suffer economically as a result.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

In this Aug. 25, 2008 file photo, an American Humvee vehicle patrols inside the new airport, currently under construction, in Najaf, Iraq. The Pentagon said Weddnesday, Oct. 29, 2008, teams led by Lockheed... (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani, file)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks at a summit for wounded warriors and their families Oct. 20, 2008, at the Pentagon. (AP Photo)

Barack Obama will likely have to cut some of the Pentagon's pet new-equipment projects, which will be politically unpopular with lawmakers whose constituencies would suffer as a result. (AP Photo)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The forces arrayed against terminating defense programs are today so powerful that if you try to do that it will be like the British Army at the Somme in World War I. You will just get mowed down by the defense industry.
- Winslow Wheeler, analyst

Taking cuts at the margin won't work this time, nor will pushing things off to later years. - Internal Pentagon document

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Obama Unveils 'Leaner,' 'Agile' Military

He wants to shift focus from ground troops to 'irregular warfare'

(NEWSER) - President Obama officially unveiled his plan for a slimmed-down military with a speech at the Pentagon today, promising that budget cuts and a reduction in conventional ground forces wouldn't harm the nation's security. "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," Obama said, according to NPR . More»

Pentagon: We're Not Planning for Spending Cuts

Says it'll instead pressure Congress to change course

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon has no plans in place to deal with the $500 billion in spending cuts theoretically heading its way thanks to the supercommittee’s failure —and it refuses to make any now. “We are not planning for the” cuts, a Pentagon spokesman tells the New York Times . “The focus is on trying to get Congress to do what it said it would do.” Leon Panetta has decried the cuts as “a seam in the nation’s defense,” slashing the Pentagon’s budget by 23%. More»

Geithner Blew Off Obama's Order to Dissolve Citigroup

New book says Obama's team routinely undermined him

(NEWSER) - In March 2009, in the throes of the financial crisis, Barack Obama told Tim Geithner to focus on a proposal to dissolve Citigroup—but the Treasury Secretary ignored him and never developed a plan, according to former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind’s new book Confidence Men. In the book, which was obtained early by the AP and the New York Times , Suskind writes that Obama’s “authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisers.” More»

Obama Lays Wreath at Pentagon

Obamas mingle with family members of 9/11 victims

(NEWSER) - After visits to New York's Ground Zero and a memorial in rural Pennsylvania where Flight 93 went down, President and Michelle Obama continued their solemn remembrance of 9/11 today at the Pentagon, the AP reports. The president lay a wreath at a bench and small pool that memorialize the Pentagon's 184 victims. As a military band played "Amazing Grace," the Obamas mingled with visitors and family members of 9/11 victims. Some wore T-shirts and ribbons with the photos and names of lost loved ones. More»

Panetta: Debt Deal Trigger Puts America in Danger

$1T in Pentagon cuts 'completely unacceptable'

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon can't tighten its belt any further without putting America in danger, Leon Panetta warns. The defense secretary says major cuts beyond the $350 billion outlined in the debt ceiling deal are "completely unacceptable" and could do "real damage " to national security, the New York Times reports. The deal contains a " trigger mechanism " that will automatically cut $600 billion from the Pentagon's budget over the next decade if Congress can't agree on $1.5 trillion in cuts by November. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Obama Must Slash Defense Budget: Study