Posted on 03/05/2014 3:32:19 PM PST by SkyPilot
The nation’s top military commander painted a dark picture Tuesday of future U.S. defense capabilities clouded by shrinking Pentagon budgets and adversaries’ technological advances that he said would erode American battlefield superiority.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided his sobering views as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated evaluation of U.S. military strength issued every four years.
Dempsey predicted that it would become increasingly difficult to balance the competing demands of protecting allies abroad, securing Americans at home and deterring future wars.
“The smaller and less capable military outlined in the QDR makes meeting these obligations more difficult,” he said. “Most of our platforms and equipment will be older, and our advantages in some domains will have eroded. Our loss of depth across the force could reduce our ability to intimidate opponents from escalating conflicts.”
Dempsey added: “Moreover, many of our most capable allies will lose key capabilities. The situation will be exacerbated given our current readiness concerns, which will worsen over the next three or four years.”
Dempsey’s perspective was more pessimistic than that of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
“As we move off the longest continuous war footing in our nation’s history, this QDR explains how we will adapt, reshape and rebalance our military for the challenges and opportunities of the future,” Hagel said in a statement.
Dempsey issued his warnings as President Barack Obama sent Congress a 2015 budget for the entire government on Tuesday that provides the Pentagon just over $600 billion.
That’s $13 billion less than current funding, but $26 billion more than provided in a budget deal that Congress approved in December by large bipartisan majorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
Dumb, dumb, dumb!
If Gen. Dempsey really thinks that way about our weakening military, then he should have himself arrested and court-martialed as an accessory after the fact.
amen
Democrats get power and F everything up at multiple levels. Republicans get voted back in en masse and fix lots of things and the country booms. Rinse and repeat. Save this time. This time we have a hard left communist Democrat party coupled with a GOPe that is more worried about party power than the nation. Hell, Boehner admitted he want's amnesty and is on board with much of what the Dem's are pushing.
Things do not bode well right now; but at least I have the satisfying thoughts that cities will crumble first, happy LIV suburbia's next when they can't figure out why there is nothing on the shelves at their local supermarket. Russia and China don't even need to invade. Most of this country hasn't an f'ing clue how to take care of themselves with almighty Washington D.C. providing for them at "this point in time". I have to wonder, whilst starving out, will they finally admit to themselves the were lied to by politicians? Will the actual survivors keep names and do what is needed after the great die off of the LIV's?
We get a lot less for our money, relatively.
They get more bang for their bucks.
1/4 of our budget in straight dollars means they will get very dangerous very quickly.
Our personnel costs are inflated vis a vis either China or Russia. Our procurement system is corrupt and extremely inefficient, particularly for new weapons.
If the U.S. follows China and Russia and increases defense Spending 300 % over 2007 spending that’ll mean a $1.65 trillion dollar defense budget. Why do we need that?
Relax America, it’s all part of that Fundamental Transformation you voted for.
Suckers.
We are already $17 Trillion in debt, and $200 Trillion if you count unfunded liabilities.
The whole JCS should have resigned years ago.
He’ll be the next to be fired tor some trumped up charge.
clintonh8r wrote: The whole JCS should have resigned years ago.
i agree. dempsey is a self serving wanker and it pains me as a veteran to say i would not want to serve in this military.
It does fit the libertarian ideal of a small domestic military.
!! Yep.
Interesting how he only wears the top two rows of his ribbon rack. Very classy, imo. I think Ike was the last top General who did that.
And yes, the budget cuts are deplorable. National Defense is the top job of the federal government.
I thought so too
How do you know it is the top two, not the middle or the bottom two.
He has several clusters
Yes, let’s broadcast that depressing tidbit so all our enemies can see it and then try to DO something!
Really, liberalism is a mental disease!
The cowardice of those holding office will likely guarantee the least palatable of options, and the most distasteful of outcomes.
In the meantime, those who can, those in positions of power will bleed the productive dry to stave off the parasites while ensuring lives of comfort for themselves.
we don’t. We already spend four times as much as China now on the military. However we need to maintain greater military capabilities than any country in the world as a deterrence. Otherwise none of the stuff we discuss at this site even matters if we cannot maintain our freedom.
The chart is misleading. It should not be in percentage terms and perhaps not even in dollars but in military capabilities. Then one could estimate dollar spending projections and the percentage increase needed to stay ahead of the others. Whoever put that chart together was not too good in mathematical analysis. They just wanted a headline.
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