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The Pentagon’s Phony Budget War Or
How the U.S. Military Avoided Budget Cuts, Lied About Doing So, Then Asked for Billions MoreWashington is pushing the panic button, claiming austerity is hollowing out our armed forces and our national security is at risk. That was the message Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel delivered last week when he announced that the Army would shrink to levels not seen since before World War II. Headlines about this crisis followed in papers like the New York Times and members of Congress issued statements swearing that they would never allow our security to be held hostage to the budget-cutting process.
Yet a careful look at budget figures for the U.S. military -- a bureaucratic juggernaut accounting for 57% of the federal discretionary budget and nearly 40% of all military spending on this planet -- shows that such claims have been largely fictional. Despite cries of doom since the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration surfaced in Washington in 2011, the Pentagon has seen few actual reductions, and there is no indication that will change any time soon.
This piece of potentially explosive news has, however, gone missing in action -- and the news that replaced it could prove to be one of the great bait-and-switch stories of our time.
The Pentagon Cries Wolf, Round One
As sequestration first approached, the Pentagon issued deafening cries of despair. Looming cuts would inflict lasting damage on our national defense and hurt the very men and women who protect this country, said Secretary Hagel in December 2012.
more: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175815/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer%2C_is_the_pentagon_doomed_--_to_be_flush_forever/
..the U.S. military -- a bureaucratic juggernaut accounting for 57% of the federal discretionary budget and nearly 40% of all military spending on this planet..."
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The Pentagon’s Phony Budget War Or (Original Post)
Ichingcarpenter
Mar 2014
OP
DJ13
(23,671 posts)1. an important article
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)2. Yeah I thought so too that's why I put it here
it doesn't move as fast as GD where posts disappear.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)3. Thank you, it's all there, in great detail. The bullshit they pull. n/t
K&R
mrdmk
(2,943 posts)4. Look at my right hand while I slip your with my left hand
No big deal, happens all of the time...
K & R