Obama's Vow to Change DoD Meets Facts

[unhappycamper]

Obama's Vow to Change DoD Meets Facts
December 02, 2008
Virginian-Pilot

Is the candidate who promised "change we can believe in " about to deliver continuity at the Pentagon?

Even as he insists he'll honor pledges to end the war in Iraq, President-elect Barack Obama's decisions to retain Defense Secretary Robert Gates and install retired Gen. James Jones as his national security adviser suggest that military change will come slowly in the new administration.

That means the defense budget -- now about $540 billion annually, not including war costs -- will remain steady or grow slightly for a while, analysts have said. Obama will find ways to save money by winding down the Iraq war while continuing to implement expensive decisions by his predecessor and the Congress to enlarge the Army and Marine Corps, they predicted.

It's "almost certain" that defense spending will grow -- though slowly -- during the next four years, said Bernard Finel, a fellow at the American Security Project, in a discussion with defense reporters recently.

Seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have so taxed American troops and equipment that the new president has little choice but to find the billions of dollars needed to maintain what's left and replace what's been lost, Finel said.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/obamas-vow-to-change-dod-meets-facts.html?col=1186032310810&wh=wh



uhc comment: "$540 billion annually" my ass. The current 2009 military budget, including $$$ for both occupations is around $1,000,000,000,000.