Hard choices looming, JCS chairman says

[unhappycamper]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen says the global economic crisis will stress the U.S. military.


Hard choices looming, JCS chairman says
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 18, 2009 21:27:01 EST

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the global financial crisis could cause greater unrest and potential new challenges for the military.

And at home, said Adm. Mike Mullen, military and political leaders will be forced to make “hard choices” about what to trim from defense spending.

“I’m extremely concerned about the impact of this crisis … I think it will generate additional instability throughout the world,” Mullen told about 1,000 airmen gathered in a hangar during his first-ever visit to icy Minot Air Force Base, a hub of the nation’s nuclear deterrence capability that is home to both B-52 Stratofortresses and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“It will impact us all,” Mullen said of the economic malaise afflicting much of the world.

Mullen also warned that the coming fiscal year defense budget, the first under the Obama administration, is likely, in his estimation, to “flatten out” after years of growth in the post-9/11 era.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_minot_mullen_021809/%2e



uhc comment: Perhaps it's time for a little sanity. At this very moment:

We own $10.6 billion dollars of (two) Zumwalt destroyers.
We own $1.2 billion dollars of (two) LCS boats.
We own 184 $355 million dollars F-22 Raptors.
We own $6.3 billion dollars of the last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
We own a $1 trillion dollars 2009 military budget.

On a separate note, those are purdy shoulder tabs Mullen is wearing.