National Security Issue budget cut down

National Security Issue budget cut down

Introduction

The U.S. currently maintains one of the largest and most expensive military forces in the world. The U.S. military has a presence worldwide, with troops in more than 150 countries across six continents; the country's annual military budget is typically more than $500 billion and, for the past decade, has increased annually.

Discussion

Adjusted for inflation, U.S. defense spending is currently the highest it has been since World War II (1939-45); the U.S. spends more money on its military than the next 10 nations combined. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the country has waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while conducting counterterrorism operations all over the world. All told, post-9/11 military operations have been calculated to cost $3.3 trillion.

In recent months, however, the military budget has been assailed for its contribution to the nation's unsustainably high deficit levels. Indeed, every year since 2001, the U.S. has spent more money than it has taken in through taxes, requiring it to steadily increase its national debt. With the U.S. trillions of dollars in debt, the nation's defense budget has frequently been identified by policy makers as a target for cuts. In January 2012, President Obama (D) announced that the Department of Defense (DOD) would produce a plan to slash its budget and streamline its operations in order to meet security threats in a more economical fashion.

The military's proposed new strategy is to develop a leaner force that would be more technically proficient than at any other point in its history; that transition, the transition to that new model, the military says, is being facilitated in part by drawing down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, experts say, the potential military threats currently faced by the U.S. are different from the challenges of the past, and do not require as large a standing army as the country has maintained in previous decades. The Obama administration therefore has said that U.S. defense policy could be more cost-effective by focusing less on being prepared for traditional warfare and more on counterterrorism and other operations that require fewer troops.

Should the military be retooled? Is it possible to adequately address the security challenges of the 21st century with a smaller defense budget?

Critics of the new defense plan argue that it cuts too much and risks not only the U.S.'s standing in the world but also its national security. They believe that ...