Defense Cuts Must Be On The Table, Say Experts

By Anna Cameron

Defense and budget experts confirmed Friday that the nation is headed in the direction of a military “build-down,” as they considered efforts to “discipline” defense spending. The experts spoke at a roundtable jointly held by the Henry L. Stimson Center and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

“We’re here because we genuinely believe that the United States is nearing the brink of a catastrophe,” said former Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). “We are motivated in restraining defense…because we are more than confident that the United States cannot continue for years on end with this debt-to-GDP ratio, without something going out of kilter.”

The BPC Debt Reduction Task Force, co-chaired by Domenici, has proposed a national security budget freeze that would hold spending at fiscal year 2011 levels until 2017, a plan which the group says would save a total of $1.1 trillion dollars. President Obama’s 2012 budget, however, proposes boosting the Pentagon’s budget to $671 billion.

Though many argue that making cuts to defense will threaten national security and render the nation more vulnerable, panelists reiterated their shared belief that the escalating debt poses the single biggest threat to national security.

“The fundamental point is that failure to reign in the rising debt poses an enormous risk to our economic vitality and national security in the relatively near term,” noted Alice Rivlin, co-chair of the bipartisan task force. “We cannot afford non-essential spending for any broad purpose — whether it’s health or eduction or defense — until we get our federal budget back on a sustainable track.”

In addition, experts stressed the importance of Congressional action in regards to slashing defense spending. Suggesting several target areas, such as investments, compensations and benefits for individuals, infrastructure, and a re-evaluation of global engagement, they established that the time is now to begin the implementation process.

“We’ve got one shot at this, [and] it actually starts right after the 2012 presidential election,” said David Berteau of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Leading up to that, there is a lot to be done…You can kill an awful lot, you’ve just got to kill it over the horizon so it doesn’t know it’s dead in time to shoot you.”