From 1 - http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2002/2913cincs_testfy.html 2 - http://www.defenselink.mil/execsec/adr95/budget_5.html
>>>Now when you look at the images, reflect on the fact that the cuts in the military
began as a result of Poppy Bush's Dept of Offense (DoO) Sec'y's efforts. Bill Jeff
came along and figured everything was gonna be all right. So, the CINCs are just
stating what the numbers would otherwise say. Poppy's thousand points of light are
the holes in the budget that his successor was able to point to as shrinking the
government. Good job, Al!!! You too, Bill Jeff!!! A lot of what I post about war may
seem like I am not pro-war, and I'm not. But realistically, should a war start, there
will eventually be people you and I know who may be sent to pound the ground
looking at caves and whatnot. A "can-do" attitude is nice but without the manpower
and materiel, it don't mean nothin'. Junior's increases are not gonna instantly undo
his daddy's lack of planning nor Bill Jeff's $$$billions to the Soviets. A<>E<>R<<<
1 - }}}>Begin
This article appears in the April 5, 2002 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
Military's CINCs Warn Congress
on Iraq War
by Carl Osgood
During the 1990-91 Desert Shield-Desert Storm operation, the U.S. Air Force moved
approximately 90,000 tons of cargo by air into Turkey and the Persian Gulf region,
about 10% of the total moved by the all military forces. Though a huge operation, the
job was simplified for the logisticians by the modern airports and seaports of Saudi
Arabia and other countries, and the network of oil refineries and pipelines that
provided a ready fuel supply for ground and air forces deployed in the region.
The current campaign in Afghanistan, however, is a completely different story, as
recent testimony in front of Congressional committees, as well as other accounts,
tends to show. The logistics system supporting operations in Afghanistan is probably
as stressed as it was in 1990-91, even though there are only about 5,000 U.S. troops
in Afghanistan, plus some tens of thousands in neighboring countries and in ships in
the Arabian Sea, as opposed to the 500,000 that were deployed for the war against
Iraq. Afghanistan is a landlocked country, with poor roads and no railroads,
destroyed by 23 years of war. Everything that American and other foreign forces
need has to be flown in by air, even aviation and motor vehicle fuel. Add the draw-
down of the U.S. military during the 1990s, and the collapse of the U.S. industrial
economy, and the impossibility of launching other major operations beyond the war in
Afghanistan becomes clear.
'Very Troubling' Testimony
These realities, though ignored by factions pushing a prompt war to eliminate
Saddam Hussein, have been reported to Congressional committees by senior
military officers. Most recently, Adm. Dennis Blair, commander-in-chief of the Pacific
Command, told the House Armed Services Committee on March 20, "We do not
have adequate forces to carry out our missions for the Pacific, if the operations in
[Afghanistan] continue at their recent past and current pace." He, and Gen. Joseph
Ralston—head of European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander,
Europe —were asked by the committee's ranking Democrat, Ike Skelton of Missouri,
whether they had the forces they needed to carry out all of their current missions as
well as a war against Iraq. Skelton found their answers "very troubling."
General Ralston told the committee, "The answer to your question as you posed it is:
I do not have the forces in EUCOM today to carry out these missions. I will come
back to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense and ask for
additional forces. Then they are going to have to come up with a choice: Where are
they going to take them away from?" He added that "I have not had a marine
amphibious ready group since October of last year.... This is the primary unit that I
use to evacuate Americans if there is a NATO operation taking place in one of those
91 countries [under his command]. And I don't believe I will have a marine
amphibious ready group this year, other than just for a few days as they transit the
Mediterranean."
Likewise, Ralston said he has not had an aircraft carrier in many months. He has
also sent AWACS radar surveillance aircraft to support operations in Southwest Asia.
Admiral Blair's assessment was that "there are shortages of naval forces, of
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance forces, in particular, that have to be
made up for if we are to continue the current level of operations in the Central
Command [which includes Afghanistan operations]." Asked by Rep. Jo Ann Davis
(R-Va.) about the impact of retiring another aircraft carrier, Blair said that would
require a shift to land-based air power, creating potential problems in the vast
Pacific
region. On March 5, he had told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the
Afghanistan war had "significantly reduced" the limited worldwide stocks of precision
guided munitions, and that restoring the stocks of these weapons "must remain a
priority." Other "major readiness concerns": aircraft availability rates in his command
and cannibalization of aircraft parts.
Other commands face the same problems. At the March 5 hearing, Maj. Gen. Gary
Speer, acting commander of the Southern Command, called the allocations of
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to his command "insufficient to
meet the intelligence requirements that we have...." He reported that many of the
assets that his command would have for anti-drug missions "have been diverted for
both Operation Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle."
Complicating the picture for the regional commands is Operation Noble Eagle, the
North American continental defense operation, which has been under way since
Sept. 11. Simultaneous with the campaign in Afghanistan is an air defense mission
over the United States, which has been comprised of primarily Air National Guard
fighter squadrons flying round- the-clock air patrols over Washington, D.C. and New
York City, with random patrols and continuous alerts in other parts of the country.
NORAD commander Gen. Ralph Eberhardt told the Senate Armed Services
Committee on March 20, that 19,000 sorties had been flown, including air refueling
tanker support and AWACS surveillance missions. This mission, according to the Air
Force, has involved about 275 fighters, 75 air-refueling tankers, and 40 C-130 cargo
planes, and about 12,000 people; it included a contingent of NATO AWACS planes
that deployed to the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks.
No New Capacity, But 'Magic'?
In contrast to the concerns of the regional commanders, the Pentagon is not only
downplaying the strains on the logistics system, but is also failing to implement any
kind of economic mobilization, such as that led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
during World War II. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and
Logistics Pete Aldridge reported, during a March 22 press briefing at the Pentagon,
that the Defense Department has indeed accelerated the production of precision
guided munitions, in response to a utilization rate in Afghanistan that was "certainly
above what our peacetime stockpile would support." He could not say whether or not
the current production rate could support a future such contingency, however.
Aldridge added that the Pentagon was not considering adding new production
facilities, but would rather only "tool up within the facilities we currently have."
Asked
by EIR to comment on the stress on the logistics system, Aldridge admitted that it is,
indeed, under stress, because the logistics agencies have had people working 24
hours a day, seven days a week since Sept. 11, to support the current level of
operations. He claimed that those on the other end of the supply lines "are delighted"
because they're getting everything that they need. When asked if there were any
capacity in the system for expanded operations, Aldridge replied "The logistics
systems meet the job they are asked to do and it's always been done. And how they
do it, it's magic, but they always do it."
Of course, military operations, and the logistics that support them, are physical-
economic processes, not magic, and must be supported by a mobilized economy.
But for the Bush Administration to lead a proper economic reorganization in the
current crisis, would mean abandoning its free trade-globalization orientation.
End<{{{
2 - }}}>Begin (only one paragraph out of report at site)
A rough measure of DoD support for readiness is funding for Operation and
Maintenance (O&M) accounts, from which come spending for training, supplies,
maintenance of weapons and equipment, and other readiness determinants. In real
terms, FY 1996 O&M budget authority is only about 16 percent below its FY 1985
Cold War peak. This is less than half the 39 percent decline in overall DoD budget
authority for FY 1985-1996. Moreover, by 1996 the size of U.S. forces and
inventories of equipment and facilities will have declined by over 30 percent from
1985 levels; thus, FY 1996 O&M funding compares even more favorably with Cold
War levels since it supports fewer forces and less infrastructure.
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no automatic endorsement
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
The following section of this message contains a file attachment
prepared for transmission using the Internet MIME message format.
If you are using Pegasus Mail, or any another MIME-compliant system,
you should be able to save it or view it from within your mailer.
If you cannot, please ask your system administrator for assistance.
---- File information -----------
File: tablevii_1.gif
Date: 4 Apr 2002, 1:17
Size: 4900 bytes.
Type: GIF-image
tablevii_1.gif
Description: GIF image
The following section of this message contains a file attachment
prepared for transmission using the Internet MIME message format.
If you are using Pegasus Mail, or any another MIME-compliant system,
you should be able to save it or view it from within your mailer.
If you cannot, please ask your system administrator for assistance.
---- File information -----------
File: tablevii_2.gif
Date: 4 Apr 2002, 1:17
Size: 3241 bytes.
Type: GIF-image
tablevii_2.gif
Description: GIF image
