Obama ushers in ‘an era where American dominance on the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted’

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

President Barack Obama will sharply cut ships, aircraft, and troops as part of a major reduction of U.S. military forces that … would reduce U.S. ground forces to their lowest level since World War II at a time when world threats are increasing. …

Chuck Hagel / AP
Chuck Hagel / AP

The military cutbacks have been a central feature of Obama’s policies since 2009. According to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in his recently published book Duty, since entering office, the president has worked to cut U.S. defenses in order to use the funds for domestic programs. …

The force reductions when combined with the spread of advanced weapons around the world signal “we are entering an era where American dominance on the seas, in the skies, and in space can no longer be taken for granted,” the defense secretary said.

The announced cuts for the fiscal 2015 budget and future years follow an earlier cut of $487 billion in defense spending over 10 years and automatic spending cuts imposed on the Pentagon by the Budget Control Act. Those cuts, known as sequestration, included $37 billion last year and involve an additional $75 billion in cuts in 2014 and 2015.

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