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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Friday March 23 10:26 AM ET
Defense Secretary Outlines Military Overhaul
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signaled to
President George W. Bush his intention to
press dramatic changes in U.S. military strategy with increased emphasis
toward Asia, senior defense and administration
officials said on Friday.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, confirmed a Washington Post
report that Rumsfeld outlined broad shifts away
from Cold War planning for a major war in Europe during a White House meeting
on Wednesday.
But the officials stressed in interviews with Reuters that Rumsfeld had made
no decisions yet on pending U.S. weapons
programs and had not made any arms recommendations to Bush at a meeting
attended by representatives of the Defense and
State Departments and the National Security Council.
The president, they said, agreed with the thrust of Rumsfeld's emphasis on
China's growing military and economic importance
and on all of Asia.
``He (Rumsfeld) did not make any recommendations or discuss weapons in
detail. But the secretary made clear that China and
Asia -- and the distances involved there -- are looming ever larger on our
radar. That will obviously make (arms) changes
necessary,'' one of the administration officials told Reuters.
SMALLER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, BOMBERS?
The Post, quoting senior government officials, said a sweeping defense review
being conducted by Rumsfeld on orders from
Bush was likely to lead to a recommendation to build smaller Navy aircraft
carriers that might be less vulnerable to new missiles
and to put more emphasis on radar-avoiding, long-range bombers such as the
batwing B-2 for power projection in Asia.
``The secretary has not received any detailed briefings on specific weapons
programs yet,'' one senior defense official told
Reuters in response to questions. ``His reasoning is 'First-things-first --
and first comes strategy -- followed by the weapons to
carry it out,''' the official said.
The top-to-bottom review of strategy and arms is aimed at moving the
cumbersome Cold War U.S. military away from a
decades-long thrust toward all-out war with the former Soviet Union toward
threats posed by high-tech arms proliferation in
the 21st century.
The Post quoted officials close to the defense study as saying that it will
lead to a shift away from the current Pentagon strategy
of being prepared to fight two major wars -- perhaps in Korea and the Gulf --
virtually simultaneously.
The newspaper said the review also could lead to buying a smaller number of
planned F-22 fighter jets for the Air Force.
Dueling Fighter Programs
The service is currently planning to buy 340 of the F-22 air-superiority jets
from Lockheed Martin Corp. at a cost of more than
$60 billion. But critics say the short-range jet would not be effective in
Asia, where distances are great and the United States
has few bases.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. are also vying for a contract to build
up to 3,000 or more planned Joint Strike
Fighters for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and Britain's Royal
Navy.
Britain has committed $2 billion to the JSF program, which is also under
review by the new administration, and Italy and other
allied countries are interested in the fighter.
Rumsfeld refused on Wednesday to predict whether or not the JSF might go
ahead despite a ringing endorsement of the fighter
from visiting British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon.
Bush has proposed a $310.5 billion military budget for 2002 but has said he
would decide whether to increase defense
spending after Rumsfeld's Pentagon review.
Sources cited by the Washington Post said the Pentagon review was likely to
push the Air Force toward spending more on
long-range bombers such as the B-2, built by Northrop Grumman Corp.
The Air Force currently has a fleet of 51 of the bombers, which flew round
trip nonstop from the United States to bomb Serbia
during NATO's air war against Belgrade two years ago.
Some members of Congress have been pressing the Pentagon to buy more of the
stealthy bombers.
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