Since the swift U.S.-led victory in Operation Desert Storm, Congress largely has shown deference to Pentagon decisions on budgets, weapon programs and war plans — a trend accelerated by the 9/11 attacks, defense experts say.
I just addressed the weapons procurement side of the issue in a comment. And wondered what planet someone has to be on to think that the Pentagon wastes a trillion dollars per year!
A lot of big weapons have been curtailed or cancelled in the last twenty years, contrary to the thrust of the article.
FCS? Scrapped. Crusader? Cancelled. New Army armed scout helo? Cancelled. Future soldier ensemble? Gone. F-22? Short production run. B-2? Short production run. EFV? Bye. Big "destroyer?" Stopped at three hulls. Seawolf sub? Production stopped at less than a handful for cheaper replacement for LA class. That's off the top of my head.
Also, per a comment, a trillion dollars a year in wasted Pentagon spending? Seriously? Better recount the zeroes, son. I hope the commenter asserting that bit of fantasy isn't a Congressional staffer.
I didn't even take on the issue of whether Congress should be dictating military strategy. And Congress did tell the military who to target in two wars, right? It isn't like the Pentagon just picked Afghanistan and Iraq for no logical reason.
Nor did I address weapons that the Pentagon doesn't want but that Congress tells them to buy.
Heck, let's recall a US Senator basically calling Petraeus a liar in his testimony in 2007, Senator Boxer's pettiness of putting a general "in his place" for calling her "ma'am" instead of "senator" (calling a civilian woman or female officer "ma'am" is a natural thing for a soldier to do), or other members of Congress calling our troops war criminals. Yeah, I'm choking on the friggin' deference.
Obviously, when at war, our military's views on their area of expertise get more weight. But our military obeys civilian orders, in the end. And if procurement is the evidence for Congressional weakness, why are so many of our weapons left over from the Cold War?
Sometimes I just shake my head in bewilderment at what I read about defense and war issues.
