As President Obama stood on the podium in the Pentagon briefing room Thursday to outline the nation's defense priorities, the military stood with him. Loyally stood with their Commander in Chief, not with Obama.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose beloved Army will face a significant troop reduction under Obama's plan, was at the president's side. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James F. Amos, whose service will also shrink, stood just behind him. And over Obama's right shoulder loomed Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the former commander in Iraq who is now chief of staff of the Army. Their primary audience was a few miles across the Potomac River -- in Congress.
"Many of us met repeatedly -- asking tough questions, challenging our assumptions, making hard choices," Obama said. "And we've come together today around an approach that will keep our nation safe and our military the finest in the world."
I wonder why he can't perform similar miracles with other aspects of the budget. I thought this dude was supposed to be smart.
For a president
To the desperate Obamanauts at the WaPo, this was front-page news.
But it also marked an evolution in Obama's practice of Washington politics. It is evidence that, after being outmaneuvered by congressional Republicans several times, he does not intend to make the same mistakes in an election year.
Funny. I haven't read anything about The One being outmaneuvered...
By enlisting the military's help in defining its strategic priorities, Obama has sought to ensure that he has the military's support when his defense budget goes before Congress, including the committees led by some of his toughest Republican critics. Military leaders, in turn, now have the
The eight-page strategy document outlines the country's changing military priorities after a decade of war and enshrines as policy the
I trust they will kill some of the expensive new programs the military does not want, in addition to cutting pay, benefits, and retirements.
The document -- and the process that created it -- also sends an unmistakable message to Congress as the threat of automatic budget cuts looms: Obama and the military leadership agree on the size, scope and mission of the armed forces in a new age of austerity.
The White House wasted no time in turning the spotlight on Congress, using
Under the Budget Control Act, signed by Obama in August as part of a hard-won deal with Congress to lift the borrowing limit, the Pentagon budget must be reduced by about $487 billion in the next decade, a roughly 8 percent decrease.
As a minimum. Perhaps the Generals think this is pereferable to the next step --
But under a
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and military commanders have warned in apocalyptic terms that such reductions would gut the armed forces. Obama has cast himself as a fully committed ally, behaving as if the worst-case scenario does not exist.
Also part of the long-range plan, setting up a future disaster to take advantage of...
"The executive branch is totally ignoring sequestration," said a senior administration official concerned about the military's predicament who was not authorized to speak for attribution. "We are making no preparations at all."
Somehow, the magical unicorns will avoid it.