NY Times: Obama to Propose Shrinking Military to 'Pre-World War II Level'

NY Times: Obama to Propose Shrinking Military to 'Pre-World War II Level'

Monday, 24 Feb 2014 05:19 AM

By Newsmax Wires

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/pentagon-shrink-budget-pre/2014/02/24/id/554281

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will propose on Monday a reduction in the size of the U.S. military to its smallest size since before World War II and scrapping a class of Air Force attack jets, The New York Times reported late Sunday.

The plans, which the paper said were outlined by several Pentagon officials on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It would leave the military capable of defeating any enemy but too small for long foreign occupations, and would involve greater risk if U.S. forces were asked to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time.

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Specifically, officials acknowledged that winning such a war would take longer, and there would be a larger number of casualties.

The plan also would:

transfer the National Guard's Apache attack helicopters to the active-duty Army, which would transfer its Black Hawk helicopters to the National Guard.

create an increase in health insurance deductibles and some co-pays for some military retirees and for some family members of active servicemen.

   

call for slowing the growth of tax-free housing allowances for military personnel and would reduce the $1.4 billion direct subsidy provided to military commissaries.

   

eliminate the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft.

   

retire the famed U-2 spy plane in favor of the remotely piloted Global Hawk.

"You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war," the Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying.

The Times added that some of the plans may face political opposition in Congress, but quoted the officials as saying that they had the endorsement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hagel is seeking a limit on both military pay raises and health-care benefits.

He also is looking at much less generous housing allowances, and a one-year freeze on raises for top military brass.

"Personnel costs reflect some 50 percent of the Pentagon budget and cannot be exempted in the context of the significant cuts the department is facing," Defense Department spokesman Adm. John Kirby told the Journal. "Secretary Hagel has been clear that, while we do not want to, we ultimately must slow the growth of military pay and compensation."

"This is a real uphill battle with Congress," Mieke Eoyang, director of the National Security Program at Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, told the Journal

"God bless [Hagel] for trying to get a handle on these costs," she said. "But in this political environment, in an election year, it's going to be hard for members of Congress to accept anything that's viewed as taking benefits away from troops."

Chuck Hagel

Chuck Hagel is the secretary U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration, and was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Note: Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and is a board member for the International Crisis Group.

Kirk A. Radke is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and a trustee at the Third Way.

Third Way

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/11/third-way.html

Chas. W. Freeman Jr. is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and was the National Intelligence Council chairman nominee for the Barack Obama administration.

Jessica Tuchman Mathews was a board member for the International Crisis Group, is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)

http://www.illuminati-news.com/110106a.htm

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Kofi A. Annan was a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the United Nations secretary general, is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and a board member for the International Crisis Group.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and is the secretary U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.

Newton N. Minow is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

William M. Daley is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a trustee at the Third Way, Richard M. Daley’s brother, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP, and Richard M. Daley’s staffer.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, a chairman for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and a director at the Woods Fund of Chicago.

Bernadine Dohrn was a litigator at Sidley Austin LLP, a member of the Weather Underground, and is married to William C. Ayers.

William C. Ayers is married to Bernadine Dohrn, Richard M. Daley’s adviser, was a member of the Weather Underground, a chairman for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, and a director at the Woods Fund of Chicago.

Richard M. Daley’s adviser is William C. Ayers, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, William M. Daley’s brother, was the Chicago (IL) mayor, Michelle Obama was his staffer, and Valerie B. Jarrett was his deputy chief of staff.

William M. Daley is Mayor Richard M. Daley’s brother, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a trustee at the Third Way, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.

Valerie B. Jarrett was Richard M. Daley’s deputy chief of staff, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration.

Kirk A. Radke is a trustee at the Third Way, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and is the secretary U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.