President Obama greeted Helen Kogel Denton as he arrived to address the VFW National Convention in Phoenix on Monday. Doug Mills/The New York TimesFrom Military.com:
PHOENIX - President Barack Obama took on both the defense establishment and freespending lawmakers on Monday, saying they were draining the defense budget with "exotic projects."
"If Congress sends me a defense bill loaded a bunch of pork, I will veto it," he declared in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He accused members of Congress of using the defense budget to protect jobs back home, including on wasteful projects he said were diverting money needed for U.S. military forces battling everything from nuclear weapons to "18th century style piracy and 21st century cyber threats."
Obama thanked America's veterans and praised U.S. fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he also spoke harshly of a "defense establishment (that) has yet to fully adapt to the post-Cold War world."
His speech, in the convention center in downtown Phoenix, was respectfully received by the veterans, who frequently interrupted him with polite applause.
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My Comment: As long as I can remember .... every U.S. President has criticized the Defense establishment. It took President Obama 6 months into the job to make his speech.
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