Obama promises big changes for Pentagon
Columbus Dispatch – President Barack Obama promised yesterday that upcoming multibillion-dollar cuts in the defense budget will result in a leaner, more flexible U.S. military that maintains its global superiority.
The new strategy will focus the armed forces on threats in Asia and the Pacific region and rely on smaller conventional ground forces in the Middle East. It makes clear that the United States no longer will be set up to conduct prolonged, large-scale counterinsurgency campaigns like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a morning news conference at the Pentagon, Obama said the military will face cuts in personnel, but “the defense budget will still be larger than it was toward the end of the Bush administration.”
The result will be a military more heavily reliant on technology, including drones and cyber warfare, and less reliant on boots on the ground. But details won’t be revealed until the end of the month, when Obama presents his spending plan to Congress.
