“We have already cut defense … about 30 percent over the last 10 years, and we’re still at war. We’re actively involved on multiple continents in real combat operations. We should not be drastically reducing our troop levels.”
That, as Bradford Richardson of The Hill reports, is the position taken by retired Admiral and former NATO Supreme Commander James Stavridis who:
… also disagreed with the president’s recent decision to pull the sole remaining aircraft carrier patrolling the Middle East out of the Arabian Gulf.
Saying that:
“We have 11 active nuclear aircraft carriers today in the United States Navy. It is hard for me to understand why we cannot manage a fleet of that size to maintain an aircraft carrier at all times in regions as dangerous as the Arabian Gulf.”
These are times of increasing stress on a military that is being stretched dangerously thin, which is a temptation to our enemies. Including the Russians who may not be as capable as NATO forces but:
… within small, tactical spaces, … can still be extremely disruptive. We have to stand firmly against them to deter them.”
Tough assignment in a time of 30 percent cutbacks.
