|
Pentagon's 'endless money' era ends
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, on Monday announced what could be the biggest cuts to the Pentagon bureaucracy since September 11, as he declared that the era of "endless money" had come to an end.Mr Gates announced cuts of almost 30 per cent on outside contractors, and curbs on military intelligence agencies and his own staff, as well as the proposed abolition of a military command and a reduction in the ranks of generals and admirals in Europe and beyond. The cuts would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs but could be fiercely resisted in Congress. "The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint," Mr Gates told a press conference. But he added: "My greatest fear is that in economic tough times that people will see the defence budget as the place to solve the nation's deficit problems, to find money for other parts of the government." The US's looming fiscal crunch is almost certain to end the breakneck expansion in military expenditure that has nearly doubled the base defence budget in 10 years to $549bn (414bn, £345bn) for 2011.
Although he did not specify a figure for total savings from his latest move, the Pentagon chief's goal is to find enough savings from reduced overheads to increase core defence spending by 2 to 3 per cent a year with only a 1 per cent annual rise in the overall budget. Painting a dark picture of the global landscape, Mr Gates said slashing the budget overall would be "disastrous" at a time when the world was becoming more unstable. Posted by: tipper 2010-08-10 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=303095 |