Let’s Have a Transparent Defense Debate
Eric Sayers /
This afternoon, the Department of Defense will conduct detailed briefs on the FY 2010 defense budget request. While much of what Secretary Gates’ has proposed for the military budget in FY 2010 and in the coming years has already been made public, today’s proceedings should provide a much clearer picture.
Here is what we already know:
- The FY 2010 total defense budget will represent a $5.5 billion real reduction from FY 2009.
- President Obama’s 10-year defense spending plans fall well short of what the nation needs to spend and what it can afford to spend.
- Driving President Obama and Secretary Gates’ vision of how the military should be organized is the flawed assumption that the future will continue to resemble the irregular and ‘hybrid’ missions the U.S. military faces today.