Chairman of Joint Chiefs Says Doomsday Cut Would 'Break' Military

[Renew Deal]

Washington: The outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff pulled no punches during his last week on the job, saying today that the across-the-board defense cuts under the so-called "doomsday" scenario will break the military.

For the first time, Adm. Mike Mullen said this afternoon that if the Super Committee set up by the White House is forced to cut any more from national security coffers, the military simply would not survive.

"If you took a trillion dollars out of defense right now, that would break us," Mullen said during a speech to defense industry leaders in Washington today. So far, the Obama administration has committed to cuts of $450 billion over the next 10 years, including $315 billion mandated by the Budget Control Act that Congress passed in July to avert a national default. Add the $500 billion that would be automatically cut should the Super Committee fail to come up with a plan to cut $1.2 trillion and you get close to $1 trillion.
<snip>

Widespread reductions beyond the $450 billion already committed to by the Obama administration over the next decade would cause "catastrophic damage to military and ability to protect this country," Panetta told the panel.
<snip>

http://defense.aol.com/2011/09/22/chairman-of-joint-chiefs-says-doomsday-cut-would-break-militar

[Drale]

1. Complete and utter bullshit

If they survived pre 9/11 with a far smaller budget they can do it again.

[Renew Deal]

6. I don't buy it either.

I think they'll be just fine and still have the ability to protect the country. I think it means that we won't be able to do as many foreign missions.

[Viking12]

14. +6.6 Trillion.

We've spent an additional $6.6 trillion on defense since 9/11.

[Lint Head]

2. Sounds like he is saying more military and less health care.

The military is trained to kill people and health care is intended to keep people alive. Hmmmm...

[L0oniX]

3. Shut it down ...then start over from the bottom up.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Well, that qualifies as the laugh of the day.

[liberal N proud]

5. Scare tactics are so bu$h regime!

[Lasher]

7. What spending cuts?

DoD hasn't made any real spending cuts.

But let’s say the Pentagon’s worst fears materialize: Defense absorbs all the cuts required by the security caps, full sequestration occurs and wars are not used as a loophole. Even then, Pentagon spending would then drop by only about 15 percent — far less than drawdowns after World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War. The “doomsday” scenario would only return America to its 2007-level of defense spending.

The wisdom of large defense cuts is an important argument for Americans to have. But we cannot properly debate decisions that we pretend already to have made.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63845_Page2.html#ixzz1YmyUcU00

[no_hypocrisy]

8. We don't need a bloated military. We have bombs.

:sarcasm:

[Blue_Tires]

9. hey, if the post office can stand up to penny-pinching scrutiny, so can the pentagon

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. +1

[bemildred]

10. "You say that like it would be a bad thing."

The military has become a parasite on the body politic, we need to start over.

[bullwinkle428]

11. Gary Johnson was advocating for a 43% cut in the defense budget.

If any political party should fear a military coup, it would have to be the Libertarians.

[FreeJoe]

12. Seriously guys, it would be really bad

We wouldn't be able to afford any new wars and might even be forced to wind down the ones we are already in. Just think of all those foreigners we won't be able to kill.

[SavWriter]

15. Let me get this straight

Are you trying to tell me that the Military is operating in as efficient a manner as possible? There is simply no way in which we could possibly save any money? I'm going to call Shenanigans. http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/150844/south-park-calls-shenanigans

Everyone get your broom.

[The Magistrate]

16. The Real Headline,Sir: 'War Is A Luxury We Can No Longer Afford Says Joint Chiefs Chairman'

[Parker CA]

17. Gimme a f@cking break. Horse sh*t. Go retire already.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. The real headline should be

These cuts will break the social safety net and the military. Look at the USSR for our future.

[hifiguy]

19. Lemme get this straight

The real military budget is around $1.3 trillion per year. Ten years = $ 13 trillion. And a reduction of even a trillion over this time would "break the military?" Complete and utter bull cookies and more than time to "break" the freaking Pentagon.

[Lasher]

20. Fear, fear!

Everybody's gonna get drafted! (A smaller military needs more people?)

Military spending cuts would increase unemployment! (Maybe if the saved money disappears entirely from the economy.)

The 1990s defense cuts “almost broke” the force! (Whose military did we borrow to invade Afghanistan in 2001?)

[blindpig]

21. Good, do it.

The world will thank us.

'Us' being the MIC.

Protect American Capital mebbe.

Cut the Pentagon by 90%