An Adequate Defense Budget for a Full-Spectrum Force

Mackenzie Eaglen /

 Electrician Jimmy Parker, installs cables into the cockpit of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft at the Lockheed-Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, October 4, 2007.

Major 2010 defense budget cuts expected to be announced by Secretary Gates today are part of a broader theme laid out in last year’s National Defense Strategy and his Foreign Affairs article seeking more “balance” in the military’s equipment portfolio away from high-end systems to fight conventional wars and more toward counterinsurgency capabilities.

In the Post-Cold War world, however, the United States has chosen through numerous defense strategies to embrace a global vision of the world consistent with broad interpretations of its national interests and international priorities. In short, America has accepted its position as the world’s sole superpower and set a consistent framework for America’s military. (more…)