Gates’ Defense Budget Fallacy

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A military truck carries a long-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile during a military parade in Tehran on September 21, 2008 to commemorate the 28th anniversary of Iran's 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today the country's military will "break the hands" of invaders if attacked, amid its continuing nuclear standoff with the West.

What will the military look like in 2019? That is a question that is being asked in light of Secretary Gates’ proposed defense budget cuts. In 2019 it will appear that Gates’ proposal for short-term savings will have jeopardized future readiness. Instead of focusing on evolving threats the U.S. military will have stayed in a state of limbo. Modernization will have come to a halt.

This is evident in the reduction of missile defense funding Gates proposed. The decrease of $1.4 billion will essentially stop the development of more advanced missile defense systems. Gates relies on the logical fallacy that since Iran and North Korea missiles cannot reach U.S. soil they pose no serious threat to national security. While proposing these cuts North Korea saw fit to launch a ballistic missile test in response to U.S. apathy. (more…)