The defense budget in back in the news -- the perennial harbinger of Spring like the first crocuses. This year's version of the ritualized passion play on Capitol Hill features Secretary Robert Gates' highly publicized proposal to trim military spending by $78 billion over the next five years. That would amount to roughly $15.5 billion per annum. A closer look reveals that the numbers refer only to the fixed Pentagon budget while excluding the 'off the books' outlays for the war/occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Conservative estimates of those costs (which assume a steady drawdown of forces and expenditures) pretty much match the projected $78 billion cuts. So, in truth, this heralded bold step to rein in defense spending is a bit of legerdemain. That's to be expected. These annual exercises usually are little more than stylized Kabuki.
There are obvious reasons for that. One is the powerful vested interests who resist making consequential changes. The other is intellectual. It is impossible to think seriously about defense budgets and Pentagon resource allocations without a clear idea of what we expect our military to do -- and why. In other words, the place to begin is with interests, needs and means. We don't do that. The production of strategic statements has become an art form for obfuscating half-baked ideas and flawed logic. Its main reference points, beyond an extrapolation of the status quo, are domestic politics and intra-governmental turf battles. This holds for budgetary plans as well.
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