|
WASHINGTON, DC - On Wednesday, House Armed Services Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) released “Provide for the Common Defense: The U.S. Military 10 Years After 9/11”. The video highlights the human face and strategic costs of defense decisions motivated by math, not strategy. “Every summer has its own soundtrack, but this fall’s looming battle over debt and defense spending has its own video…” “This one will make you cry with frustration. It is no big secret in the military. The force is worn down to nubs by a decade of war…” “[Provide For The Common Defense] pays rightful tribute to the armed forces while warning that our weapons systems are already old and insufficient in number to face all the threats we must confront—and this even before the Pentagon faces another major round of possible budget cuts this fall.”
Even More Reviews on Deeper Defense Cuts: “Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that the $400 billion in cuts that the Pentagon may face over the next 10 years can be handled, but he warned that further reductions would have a ‘catastrophic effect’ on national security.”
"As our nation contemplates difficult budget decisions, I know that our leaders will remember that our people, our men and women in uniform, are our military. And that taking care of them and their families must be our paramount objective. Beyond that it will be imperative to maintain a force that not only capitalizes on the extraordinary experience and expertise in our ranks today but also maintains the versatility and flexibility that have been developed over the past decade." - CIA Director David Petraeus ### |
|
|
Sep 8, 2011
Defense Drumbeat
Special Video Feature from the House Armed Services Committee
112th Congress