This seems to be the same rhetoric that every Defense Secretary dishes out, but this time I am going to speculate that there is something a little different about this time. Saving pennies is now in the vocabulary of the leaders of this war, because they have no other choice. There is just too much going on out there, for the sacred cow called defense spending to not be impacted.
I kind of look at it like this. If the US is part of this massive globalized economy, then things that happen in the global economy will impact the US economy. A case in point is the Greek debt crisis. The volcano in Iceland is another, as is the current recession in the US. The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is another. And of course the two wars we are fighting is costing us billions of dollars every year. Eventually all of that debt and chaos will catch up, and I am sure the administration has given the call to Secretary Gates that it is time to cinch up the belt. Who knows what the conversations at the top entail, and all I can focus on right now is actions.
Below I have posted three stories. The first is how Gates’ new mission to curb spending will impact war plans. If soldiers are costing a million a day in places like Afghanistan, then money for fancy new military equipment that is only marginally better than the current piece of equipment might be axed. Actually, it will be axed and that is the whole point. Cost effective war fighting measures will come more into play, and the military will be asked to do more with less. That is what happens when we go into ‘saving pennies’ mode.
The next story is about the Greek debt crisis. My question on this, is what will happen to the rest of Europe do to these issues? And how that impacts the war effort, is if a country is in debt, then paying for troop deployments in the war might be a little much for the citizenry to stomach. After all, if our Secretary of Defense is talking this kind of talk, what are the secretaries of defense of other countries saying, who are involved in this war? Could we expect more last minute pull outs where vacuums are created that must be filled by either US troops or ….. contractors? Something to ponder I guess.
The final story is about the cost of the war. It is staggering, and the one figure I keep going back to is the cost per soldier for a year in Afghanistan. $500,000 to a million for one soldier, for the year is a lot of money. –Matt
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Gates: Runaway Military Spending May Affect War Plans
May 8, 2010
ABILENE, Kansas (Reuters) – Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the U.S. military on Saturday it must rein in spending that he called out of sync with today’s tough economic times, and said budget woes could be a factor in deciding whether to use force against Iran and others.
Promising to play a hands-on role in wringing out savings, Gates held out the possibility of axing headquarters, merging whole agencies and culling the officer corps, taking on entrenched interests sure to put up a fight.
Sticker shock from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq also mean President Barack Obama and Congress may be more cautious about committing U.S. forces to another costly military engagement, he said.
“I do think that as we look to the future, particularly for the next couple of years or so while we’re in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think the Congress and the president would look long and hard at another military operation that would cost us $100 billion (67.6 billion pounds) a year,” Gates told reporters.
“If there’s a real threat out there, the president and Congress will spend whatever it takes to protect the nation. But in situations where there are real choices, I think this would be a factor,” he added.
Asked if Iran fell into the category where costs would be a factor in deciding whether to strike over its nuclear program, Gates said it was unclear. “It depends on developments over the next year or two,” he said.
Gates said his goal was to cut overhead in the Defence Department’s nearly $550 billion baseline budget between two to three percent, or $10 billion to $15 billion per year, starting in fiscal 2012. The savings would allow the Pentagon to sustain force levels and free up funds for modernization programs.
Without such savings, Gates said, “it is highly unlikely that we will achieve the real growth rates necessary to sustain the current force structure.”
