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Latest update: 06/01/2012
- Barack Obama - US military - USA
Obama unveils defence cuts, vows US ‘military superiority’
US President Barack Obama unveiled a new defence strategy on Thursday aimed at scaling back costs by reducing the number of troops in Europe and refocusing security efforts in Asia, while promising the US would maintain its “military superiority”.
By News Wires (text)
REUTERS - President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that calls for greater U.S. military presence in Asia and envisions cutting troops in Europe as the Pentagon seeks to reduce spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war.
Obama, in a Pentagon news conference alongside Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, released a strategy document that calls for the United States to maintain a force that can win one war while still having the capability to deter the objectives of an adversary in a second conflict.
That is a shift away from the military’s often repeated goal of being able to fight and prevail in two wars in different theaters simultaneously.
The strategy also calls for the U.S. military to “rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region” even as it continues to actively counter the threat of violent extremism.
“Even as our troops continue to fight in Afghanistan, the tide of war is receding,” Obama said at the news conference. “Even as our forces prevail in today’s missions, we have the opportunity - and the responsibility - to look ahead to the force we need for the future.
“Our nation is at a moment of transition,” Obama wrote in the introduction to the strategy, which also calls for increased investment in cyber capabilities and suggests the United States may be able to shrink its nuclear arsenal further without jeopardizing security.
The shift in focus to Asia comes amid increasing concern at the Pentagon over China’s strategic goals as it begins to field a new generation of weapons that could prevent U.S. naval and air forces from projecting power into the Far East.
Obama initiated the strategic review last summer after asking the Pentagon to begin planning for major cuts to the U.S. defense budget after a decade of growth. The strategy is meant to identify U.S. strategic priorities and guide defense spending as the military begins to cut back.
Obama and Congress agreed in August to reduce projected national security spending by more than $450 billion in the next decade. They also agreed on automatic spending cuts that could slash another $600 billion from the Pentagon budget unless Congress agrees on an alternative.
The strategy document released on Thursday addressed U.S. interests in broad brush-strokes but did not get into specifics about how many troops would be reduced or deal with specific budgetary issues.
But administration officials speaking before the roll-out of the strategy on Thursday said Army and Marine Corps personnel numbers would be cut by 10 percent to 15 percent in the next decade, a figure that translates into tens of thousands of troops.
The strategy underscores the United States’ “enduring interests” in Europe and the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but says the force posture in Europe must “evolve” with the changing times.
Administration officials have said the United States is likely to further reduce the number of ground forces in Europe by another combat brigade, a unit of 3,000 to 4,000 people depending on its composition.
The strategy document underscores a U.S. interest in maintaining stability in the Middle East while responding to the aspirations of the people as expressed in the Arab Awakening last year. It also says the United States will continue working to halt nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea.
“U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security, in collaboration with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries when appropriate, to prevent Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon capability and counter its destabilizing policies,” the strategy document says.
The document expresses concern about new weapons being developed by China and Iran that could make it difficult for the United States Navy and Air Force to project power abroad.
“The United States must maintain its ability to project power in areas where our access and freedom to operate are challenged,” it says.
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Comments (4)
Fobama
I'm an American and we can't get this idiot out of office fast enough. Watch closely this November as his reign of idiocy comes to an end.
New generation politics will be violence free.
If the foolish heads of the 3rd world only could understand how smart and non-violently intelligent is Mr. Barack Obama -who is doing a geatest of all time US mission for US and Global prosperity at the expense of his personal time. He could just write books and make approximately 'Ten times more money' than what he is earning as President of USA. He and some wise of the present are just doing a favor to the Global Public for no personal or monetary gains.
It's a different kind of War, very honestly handled by a couple of smartest politicians on present Earth. Just support honesty and the truth.
Now, oil price may get cheaper to benefit hard-working folks not Billionaires.
Please believe in facts and you have nothing to lose by doing it!
Funny! Yes, funny are the most of the human interactions, as long as no human gets killed by another human or a groups of humans.
The too old styled mankind killing politics in the name of God by the advisers of any of the parties of Semitic Origins such as Iranians, Saudi-Arabians, Palestinians, Lebanese, Pakistanis, Afghans etc. will never going to go un-noticed and un-addressed by the New Generation of Collective Global public.
It's time for intelligent, New Kind of US and Global politics without weapons of Wars.
Playing non-violent funny games is Okay as developments for betterment of the mankind -all over the World, is to continue simultaneously.
The changing process will be slow but someone(s) have to start it to be continued for decades and only a few wise heads like Mr. Obama, now understand how the violent reality can become peaceful and of course, by a slowly developing process of digitally identifying and confining the bad guys -a very small percentage of the Global populace including 'a beggar on the global street or a king inside a palace'.
The Cosmos' Creator or religion-less God is blame-free even when killings are committed through non-human, natural creations such as unpredictable Tsunami, new bacterial epidemic etc.
These have and will always destroy partial mankind somewhere and humans can do nothing but *the exception is: when killings are committed through creations such as: some super-stupid, dumb-human-heads in power; because the closely interconnected Global public now can do something and that is why Global uprisings will continue for a long time until religious-type old politics are replaced by a new fittest kind for this digital era.
For this reason, still there will be no peace in the lands of today's Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Israel, India, Bangladesh etc.. The non-violent wars of protests will continue from inside e.g. For Saudi-Arabia, its own Public and not Outsider: Israeli Public.
The old style media propaganda won't work anymore as 'the electronic social networks with daily true facts' are becoming replacements. Even attempts to start a "Third World War -will become a matter of idiots' conspiracy" in the eyes of collective 'evolved Global Public'.
Each of us -the wise Westerners, despite our financial hardship, have to get used to enjoying life without luxury for a while and try to have fun in the apparently endless game of living *Life -A truly Cosmic gift of the forever mysterious, cruel (in the human sense of understanding) and *Loving Creator.
Shahislam
New generation politics will be violence free.
Please! There should be no secret, even in national, International, political levels etc. and each bad guy will be caught by the digital signatures left behind, if financial crime protecting old privacy law etc. are modified. Water bomb may replace nuclear bombs and shall we need this type symbsolic weapon to fight insurgents in the deserts after globally banning production, selling and use of private guns?
Negativity and brutalities are taken care of by the same things and @ 50% cosmic rule.
Do the current world's International leaders with the mentality of Bangladeshi political leaders have any idea what it is all about?
******** A Prudent US President’s wise thoughts and actions for benefiting hard working middle class portion of US public are better than what we may note from out of date political or holibooks.
Just consider: A poor country Bangladesh spends almost half of it’s annual national bugget for maintainence of it’s Military but what benefit its hard working public gets when that piece of land, “situated in a near future’s strategically best and busiest commercial transiting spot”, desperately needs dozens of bridges and highways to conveniently connect Southern China and India with its economic Bay of Bengal sea Ports.
Every body deserves to be get paid for good works and labor but where is money? How govt. can collect the funds?
Catching with digital proofs is easy now. Tax evading wealthy filthies all over the world are now at risk, not only kings and prime ministers of oil rich and / or third world countries but every animalistically selfish, too greedy Billionaires and Millionaires who are reaping the fruits of other’s hard labors (Unbelieavly, Some hard working labors at this era of awareness even get brutally beheaded in public by the hands of bullying thugs or country heads in the name of God, religions or primitive politics).
However, all type of blood-shed-causing Wars including old-days patriotic, hereditary egoistic, Oil money induced ones etc. are not being considered as great things anymore, unlike past, by the interconnected global new generation that has much better things to do and worried about.
“military superiority”. intellectual minority
The hired gun of the US poking at the rest of the world trying to tell it how to live. Yet it has more drug addicts over 5 million people behind bars plus the home of the most over weight people on earth and the main porn and gambling people in the world and they are trying to sell everyone else the idea to to be like them.
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