Why doesn't Gates do something about the Pentagon's toxic budget request?
Posted by Max Bergmann
Josh Rogin at CQ had a piece last Friday that says the Pentagon will unleash a political trap for the next administration.
Pentagon officials have prepared a new estimate for defense spending that is $450 billion more over the next five years than previously announced figures. The new estimate, which the Pentagon plans to release shortly before President Bush leaves office, would serve as a marker for the new president and is meant to place pressure on him to either drastically increase the size of the defense budget or defend any reluctance to do so, according to several former senior budget officials who are close to the discussions.
In other words give us all our shinny toys or we are going to make a political stink. This is not a new tactic by the Pentagon but the fact that this story comes just a week or so after a speech by Secretary Gates where he argued for a reassessment of our procurement priorities, is pretty shocking. In that speech Gates argued that we need to rethink our defense priorities, make hard choices, and develop weapons systems that are relevant to current challenges. This may involve canceling many of the high-tech conventional weaponry that has little to no relevance to adversaries that fight asymmetrically like in Iraq and Afghanistan. And instead investing in systems that are cheaper, easier to produce, and can be easily shared with allies on the ground. Gates said,
When it comes to procurement, for the better part of five decades, the trend has gone towards lower numbers as technology gains made each system more capable. In recent years these platforms have grown ever more baroque, ever more costly, are taking longer to build, and are being fielded in ever dwindling quantities.Given that resources are not unlimited, the dynamic of exchanging numbers for capability is perhaps reaching a point of diminishing returns.
Gates is essentially casting doubt on the "military transformation" effort that was pushed by the Bush administration from its outset. By doing so he is casting doubt on the justification for most of the weapons programs that the additional $450 billion is intended for.
Gates is right that there needs to be a reassessment and hard choices need to be made. But my question is what is he waiting for. Instead of bequeathing the next administration a politically toxic budget request that only makes it more difficult to accomplish what Gates says he wants to accomplish, why doesn't Gates actually begin the procurement review process now and submit to the next administration his recommendations for what systems are necessary and what are not. He is after all the Secretary of Defense RIGHT NOW.
Why are so many Democrats so freaked out about this reported defense "estimate"? Isn't this just the usual transition maneuvering? Does it really matter?
Let them ask for whatever they want. Let them ask for a fleet of next generation zeppelins. Let them ask for missiles launched from the moon. Let them ask for 50,000 personal rocket sleds for the Marines. It doesn't matter. The next president will have his own defense plans and priorities, and nobody cares about some Bush/Cheney wish list pinned to the bulletin board by the guys who are already cleaning out their desks.
Oh my! The next president will actually be put in the position of having to defend his priorities! Imagine that!
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