Defense cuts announced by Obama
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2012, Friday
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US President Barack Obama put his personal stamp yesterday on a rejigged Pentagon strategy for absorbing hundreds of billions of dollars in defense budget cuts, marking a turning point in US security policy after a decade of war.
In a rare appearance in the Pentagon press briefing room, Obama announced that the military will be reshaped with an emphasis on countering terrorism, maintaining a nuclear deterrent, protecting the US homeland, and "deterring and defeating aggression by any potential adversary."
Those are not new military missions, and Obama announced no new capabilities or initiatives. He described a US force that will retain much of its recent focus, with the exception of fighting a large-scale, prolonged conflict like the newly ended Iraq mission or the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
"As we end today's wars and reshape our armed forces, we will ensure that our military is agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies," he wrote in a preamble to the new strategy, which is titled, "Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense."
The strategy hints at a reduced US military presence in Europe and says Asia will be a bigger priority. It also emphasizes improving US capabilities in the areas of cyberwarfare and missile defense.
In a presidential election year, the strategy gives Obama a rhetorical tool to defend his Pentagon budget-cutting choices. Republican contenders for the White House already have criticized Obama on national security issues, including missile defense, Iran and planned reductions in ground forces.
Obama also wants the new strategy to represent a pivot point in his stewardship of defense policy - which has been burdened by the wars he inherited.
The strategy document announced by Obama contained no specifics on the size of expected troop reductions; the Army and Marine Corps already are set to shrink beginning in 2015.
It made clear that while some current missions of the military will be curtailed, none will be scrapped entirely.
The administration and Congress already are trimming defense spending. The massive US$662 billion defense budget planned for next year is US$27 billion less than Obama wanted and US$43 billion less than Congress gave the Pentagon this year.
In a rare appearance in the Pentagon press briefing room, Obama announced that the military will be reshaped with an emphasis on countering terrorism, maintaining a nuclear deterrent, protecting the US homeland, and "deterring and defeating aggression by any potential adversary."
Those are not new military missions, and Obama announced no new capabilities or initiatives. He described a US force that will retain much of its recent focus, with the exception of fighting a large-scale, prolonged conflict like the newly ended Iraq mission or the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
"As we end today's wars and reshape our armed forces, we will ensure that our military is agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies," he wrote in a preamble to the new strategy, which is titled, "Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense."
The strategy hints at a reduced US military presence in Europe and says Asia will be a bigger priority. It also emphasizes improving US capabilities in the areas of cyberwarfare and missile defense.
In a presidential election year, the strategy gives Obama a rhetorical tool to defend his Pentagon budget-cutting choices. Republican contenders for the White House already have criticized Obama on national security issues, including missile defense, Iran and planned reductions in ground forces.
Obama also wants the new strategy to represent a pivot point in his stewardship of defense policy - which has been burdened by the wars he inherited.
The strategy document announced by Obama contained no specifics on the size of expected troop reductions; the Army and Marine Corps already are set to shrink beginning in 2015.
It made clear that while some current missions of the military will be curtailed, none will be scrapped entirely.
The administration and Congress already are trimming defense spending. The massive US$662 billion defense budget planned for next year is US$27 billion less than Obama wanted and US$43 billion less than Congress gave the Pentagon this year.
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