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January 7, 2011

Pentagon Budget Continues to Grow Despite Budget Cuts 
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates has unveiled a five-year plan that would
trim about $78 billion from anticipated spending in the Pentagon budget.
Despite the proposed cuts, Mc Clatchy Newspapers reports the military
budget will still increase by three percent next year to $553 billion,
not including spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over the
past decade, the Pentagon budget has risen 65 percent when adjusted for
inflation. Robert Gates outlined his plan on Thursday.

Robert Gates: "More than $6 billion was saved by our decision to reduce
the size of the active Army and Marine Corps starting in FY 2015. Under
this plan, the U.S. Army's permanent active-duty end strength would
decline by 27,000 troops, while the Marine Corps would decline by
somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000, depending on the outcome of their
force structure review. These projected reductions are based on an
assumption that America's ground combat commitment in Afghanistan would
be significantly reduced by the end of 2014 in accordance with the
President's strategy."

Meanwhile, Robert Gates is heading to China this weekend in order to
formally restore military-to-military exchanges. Gates is the first
defense secretary to visit China in 10 years.



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