Posted on 02/09/2013 4:46:32 PM PST by SkyPilot
The Pentagon will have to cut the size of U.S. military forces for the second time in as many years if across-the-board spending reductions of $470 billion over 10 years take effect March 1, the top U.S. military officer said on Saturday.
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about a third of the cuts would have to come from forces, with the remaining two-thirds taken from spending on modernization, compensation and readiness.
He noted that the Army had begun to shrink last year toward 490,000 from a high of 570,000, a result of efforts to trim $487 billion over 10 years as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
The Budget Control Act also envisioned the additional across-the-board cuts under a process known as sequestration. If those cuts go into effect, "the Army will have to come down again," Dempsey said.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Afghanistan, Dempsey said two recent high-profile examples of belt-tightening were attempts by the Pentagon to adapt to the current challenging budget climate and had nothing to do with sequestration.
The Pentagon said last week it would seek a smaller-than-expected pay increase of 1 percent for military personnel in the 2014 fiscal year budget. Pay increases have generally been pegged to an employment cost index and had been expected to rise 1.7 percent.
"That action is being taken to help us absorb the $487 billion in the Budget Control Act. It has nothing to do with sequestration," Dempsey said.
A defense official said the lower pay increase would save the department about $470 million during the 2014 fiscal year. The savings would amount to $3 billion over five years because future increases would be based on the lower 2014 raise.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Black meaning ‘off the books’.
They will have training and logistical support.
Socialist governments have a long history of sponsoring violent (but pro-government) civilian militia organizations in order to suppress domestic opposition.
Watch for "community outreach" and "neighborhood watch" programs which provide training to disadvantaged minority youth groups. When they start displaying visible security forces, you will know that the next episode of the game is ready to start.
Of course "Brown shirt" forces have limited capabilties and are notoriously unreliable. In later phases of power consoliation the "Brown shirts" generally must be liquidated. But for intimidating unarmed civilians, they are pretty effective.
Moreover the regular police forces will initially be directed to ignore pro-government militias or even to protect them from resistance and retaliation. It is that direction which will cause the government security forces to self-destruct.
The fact that a militia program ulitmately cannot work doesn't mean "they" won't try it. The elites firmly believe that they can have anything they want if they push hard enough.
“Socialist governments have a long history of sponsoring violent (but pro-government) civilian militia organizations in order to suppress domestic opposition.”
Comparing American socialists with German fascists is futile. An active and organized group needs to believe in something other than jumbo bags of potato chips, Nike shoes and crack.
You can’t organize an armed group based on shopping for stuff. A flash mob is the antithesis of a trained military platoon.
We have seen dozens of examples in the last two years where this has been done.
Flash mobs can be organized quickly in an angry population and it only requires one or two participants to carry firearms. This emboldens the rest of the mob.
To be sure, this is not a trained military platoon. It cannot stand up to organized resistance. It does not need to do so to be effective. The goal is terrorizing unarmed neighbors into submission.
A small cadre of minimally trained young men with light arms - or even clubs- can do that.
A more apt comparison is with South American facists in Argentina, Venezuela, and Bolivia. This is exactly how they work today.
We have had over 40 years of grievance-mongering politicians telling various minority groups that all their troubles have been caused by "the man". That gives violent young men something to believe in other than "jumbo bags of potato chips, Nike shoes, and crack".
It is enough to make a start and we have elites who are willing to try it. (Remember the NBPP in Philidelphia?) The fact that it cannot work in the long run is unlikely to prevent an attempt in the short run.
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