Post by Daniel on Oct 25, 2017 10:42:24 GMT -5
Rebuilding a Depleted Military
By Wesley Smith
As Congress finally finishes up the 2018 federal budget, the proposed National Defense Authorization Act 2018 (NADA) will be approved by Congress and submitted for the President’s signature. However, the real key to its implementation is in the respective Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate. The requested funds must be appropriated. This is a critical juncture in the Article 1 Constitutionally-mandated responsibility of the Congress: to “provide for the common defense” of the nation. It is the most important thing that Congress does.
Six years ago, the nation faced a federal deficit crisis. This led to the Budget Control Act of 2011, better known as Sequester. The bill’s intent was to incentivize the warring political parties in Congress to reduce the growth of the federal budget by mandating cuts so drastic and painful, that the parties would be forced to compromise and address out of control federal spending. The compromise predictably failed and the threatened cuts became law, calling for equal and arbitrary cuts in domestic and defense spending.
However, as the Department of Defense faced the cuts mandated by sequester, the operational tempo of the U.S. military increased. The fight against ISIS and other terror groups, the war in Afghanistan, the necessity of maintaining a robust military presence in Asia to counter the threats of North Korea, the need to support NATO to counter Russian interference and aggression in Eastern Europe, increased participation of U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, and more, requires the armed forces to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. This has led to the degradation of equipment, training and personnel across all branches of the military.
Meanwhile, China has increased military spending 650% over the last twenty years. It continues its expansion in the South China Sea. Russia continues to occupy parts of Ukraine and poses a threat to the strategic interests of NATO. North Korea is a nuclear power intent on developing a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the continental United States. Iran continues to sow unrest...
more
aclj.org/national-security/rebuilding-a-depleted-military
By Wesley Smith
As Congress finally finishes up the 2018 federal budget, the proposed National Defense Authorization Act 2018 (NADA) will be approved by Congress and submitted for the President’s signature. However, the real key to its implementation is in the respective Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate. The requested funds must be appropriated. This is a critical juncture in the Article 1 Constitutionally-mandated responsibility of the Congress: to “provide for the common defense” of the nation. It is the most important thing that Congress does.
Six years ago, the nation faced a federal deficit crisis. This led to the Budget Control Act of 2011, better known as Sequester. The bill’s intent was to incentivize the warring political parties in Congress to reduce the growth of the federal budget by mandating cuts so drastic and painful, that the parties would be forced to compromise and address out of control federal spending. The compromise predictably failed and the threatened cuts became law, calling for equal and arbitrary cuts in domestic and defense spending.
However, as the Department of Defense faced the cuts mandated by sequester, the operational tempo of the U.S. military increased. The fight against ISIS and other terror groups, the war in Afghanistan, the necessity of maintaining a robust military presence in Asia to counter the threats of North Korea, the need to support NATO to counter Russian interference and aggression in Eastern Europe, increased participation of U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, and more, requires the armed forces to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. This has led to the degradation of equipment, training and personnel across all branches of the military.
Meanwhile, China has increased military spending 650% over the last twenty years. It continues its expansion in the South China Sea. Russia continues to occupy parts of Ukraine and poses a threat to the strategic interests of NATO. North Korea is a nuclear power intent on developing a nuclear-armed ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the continental United States. Iran continues to sow unrest...
more
aclj.org/national-security/rebuilding-a-depleted-military
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