Special to WorldTribune.com
Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon
The Obama administration’s four-year defense strategy lacks funding needed for fulfilling global military missions and the U.S. military faces “high risk” in the world unless changes are made, according to a bipartisan report by a congressionally backed panel of defense experts.
The report by the National Defense Panel, led by former Defense Secretary William Perry and retired Marine Corps Gen. John Abizaid, criticized the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review for outlining military responsibilities that cannot be met because of sharp defense funding cuts. … “This gap is disturbing if not dangerous in light of the fact that global threats and challenges are rising, including a troubling pattern of territorial assertiveness and regional intimidation on China’s part, [and] the recent aggression of Russia in Ukraine.”
Other threats include nuclear proliferation by North Korea and Iran, the ultra-violent Islamist insurgency in Iraq and civil war in Syria, along with growing unrest throughout the Middle East and North Africa. “These are among the trends that mandate increased defense funding,” the report said. …
Under President Obama, U.S. military spending has been cut first by $487 billion over 10 years. That was followed by automatic spending cuts imposed by the Budget Control Act that included another $37 billion cut and additional cuts of $75 billion for 2014 and 2015. …
On Capitol Hill, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon said the report confirms that the Pentagon did not follow the law in producing its last QDR.“The QDR did not do what Congress required,” McKeon said in a statement. “By focusing on budget—rather than threats — the QDR does a disservice to the nation by not examining the force and the resources the nation needs. … What the president fails to understand — which the report points out — is that a strong military underwrites all other tools our nation has for global influence.”
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