Sunday Reflection: Pentagon stares into budget abyss

Planning used to be what the Pentagon did best, but no longer. Its budget was never a thing of beauty because Congress and the services were always tinkering. And beginning with the 2011 Budget Control Act, it was held hostage to politics.

At White House direction, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had, until now, refused to plan for the turmoil that would come in March if sequestration — an additional $600 billion in cuts over 10 years — hit.