Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 August 2012
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' plan to curb military spending is a needed step, but Congress should work on cutting the Pentagon's budget even further.
Gates on Monday laid out a specific proposal to trim defense spending by $100 billion over the next five years. Among the cuts, he'd eliminate a military command in Norfolk, Va., and shrink the number of private contractors who are paid by the Pentagon.
Saving $100 billion is nothing to shrug at. And Gates should get credit for trying to reduce administrative costs without harming the nation's fighting ability.
But his proposals represent a small dent in defense spending, which has soared in the past decade. Even with Gates' proposed reductions, overall military spending would rise an average of 1 percent per year above inflation.
Given the country's massive deficits, defense should be targeted for overall reductions instead of slower growth. The long-term budget picture is gloomy, and sacrifice will be needed from every corner of the government's operations.
President Obama hasn't seen it that way, yet. He's asked Congress to boost defense spending next year, from $535 billion to $549 billion. And that staggering sum doesn't include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which bring the total to $708 billion - about 6 percent more than the highest spending levels under former President George W. Bush.
In the past decade, defense spending has increased an average of 7 percent annually above inflation. Much of that increase is due to the two wars that followed the 9/11 attacks, but there also has been growth in bureaucracy. For example, the defense secretary's office alone has added about 1,000 employees in the past 10 years, an increase of about 50 percent.
Cutting the military budget means cutting jobs, which will be difficult even for a Pentagon chief with Gates' credibility. Already this week, elected officials in Virginia are coming out against these proposed reductions.
Too often, lawmakers try to save defense programs in their own backyards when even the military doesn't want them. Gates has been waging this battle valiantly under Republican and Democratic administrations.
Gates is trying to control military spending by striking first with his proposed cuts. Otherwise, he fears that deficits and the ongoing withdrawal of troops from Iraq will spur some Democratic lawmakers to make deeper cuts without the same level of care that Gates has taken.
Citation: Military can take cuts, editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 August 2012. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100811_Editorial__Military_can_take_cuts.html