US Army says budget cuts pose big risks
Iran Press TV
Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:35AM GMT
The US Army says mandatory military budget cuts would have catastrophic repercussions for the armed forces that are confronted with serious issues domestically and internationally.
The US Army Chief of Staff, General Ray Odierno, said the Army is already trying to keep forces ready for possible battle, replace obsolete military equipment and respond to crises in other countries.
'We have a huge window of risk in modernization and readiness,' Odierno said at the annual Association of the US Army (AUSA) conference on Monday.
'We continue to increase the requirements and commitments of our forces, and yet we cannot ensure that we're going to have the readiness to meet those commitments.'
He said the budget cuts known as sequestration, which require US military to reduce its current size of 490,000 to 45,000, would make it difficult to deal with global crises including Russia, ISIL and problems in other regions.
The general added that shrinking the military budget would make the US physically unable to be present in more places and that would lead to an increase in the response time.
He went on to say that he is not sure 'whether even the old level of 490,000 is the right thing to do because of what I see potentially on the horizon.'
An April report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed that the United States' military spending decreased last year.
The SIPRI report said US military spending fell by 7.8 percent in 2013 while China's spending increased 7.4 percent and Russia's grew 4.8 percent last year.
US military spending was $640 billion in 2013, compared to an estimated $188 billion in China and $87.8 billion in Russia.
The US Congress passed the US military budget for 2013 that authorizes spending of $633 billion.
AT/AGB
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
