Gates: 'Nothing Is Off the Table' Regarding Cuts
By JOHN T. BENNETT
Published: 27 Jan 14:33 EST (19:33 GMT)
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers Jan. 27 that no Pentagon weapons program is immune from potential cuts as the Bush-era defense spending binge that began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks comes to an end.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says nothing is off the table in terms of budget cuts. (Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison / Defense Department)
"Nothing is off the table at this point," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee, responding to a question from panel member Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who asked where Gates would rank the Army's Future Combat Systems program on his priorities.
Gates praised the Army's 2008 moves to speed the fielding of some FCS systems. But he made clear FCS - and every other major program from each Defense Department service and agency - would be reviewed as the Obama administration goes hunting for ways to trim defense spending.
Pentagon officials must examine the "future items" that are not slated to be fielded under the FCS program until sometime next decade.
He said defense officials must determine what kinds of systems "will be useful" in counterinsurgency operations and hybrid wars, which feature elements of conventional and irregular conflicts.
"We will not be able to 'do everything, buy everything.' And, while we have all spoken at length about these issues, I believe now is the time to take action," Gates said in written comments to the panel.
"I believe that the [fiscal] 2010 budget must make hard choices," Gates wrote. "Any necessary changes should avoid across-the-board adjustments, which inefficiently extend all programs."
"I promise you that as long as I remain in this post I will focus on creating a unified defense strategy that determines our budget priorities," Gates wrote. "It is one thing to speak broadly about the need for budget discipline and acquisition reform. It is quite another to make tough choices about specific weapons systems and defense priorities based solely on national interests. And then to stick to those decisions over time."
Gates also said he plans to launch the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review "next month." That comprehensive look at American defense strategy and needs will be conducted "in an accelerated way," according to the defense secretary. He wants to move quickly on the study to influence the Obama defense team's review of the 2010 budget plan left behind by the Bush administration, and to ensure the QDR "shapes" the 2011 defense request.
Together, the quadrennial review and the 2011 Pentagon budget plan will compose the new president's first major statement about what Washington's defense and national security policies will like during his tenure.
Additionally, in his written testimony, Gates defined what he sees as America's strategic goals for Afghanistan: Obama plans to ramp up the U.S.-led mission there as he draws down troops in Iraq.
"While this will undoubtedly be a long and difficult fight, we can attain what I believe should be among our strategic objectives: an Afghan people who do not provide a safe haven for al-Qaida, reject the rule of the Taliban, and support the legitimate government that they elected and in which they have a stake," Gates said in his written testimony.
During the hearing, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the panel's ranking member, urged Gates to fashion a "comprehensive plan" for the Afghan conflict that includes "specific and set goals" that will help officials in Washington measure progress.
Gates and several panel members, including McCain, stressed during the three-hour session a need to make clear to the American public that achieving the kinds of goals described in the secretary's statement will require many more years of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
Some military and Obama administration officials have talked of sending about 30,000 more American troops into the unstable nation. Gates endorsed those numbers, but said he could not support sending any more than the additional troops recently requested by senior commanders there.
Next up, Gates crosses the snowy Capitol grounds to testify before the House Armed Services Committee.
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