Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta congratulates Robert M. Gates, who served as the 22nd defense secretary, at the unveiling of Gates' portrait at the Pentagon, Oct. 29, 2012. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
Honey, I Shrunk the Pentagon -- Bill Keller, New York Times
LET’S imagine you are the new secretary of defense, and, wow, has Secretary Panetta left you a full docket. You have to extract more than 60,000 troops from Afghanistan without leaving behind a Mad Max dystopia. You have to carry on shadow wars against homicidal extremists, refine contingency plans for Syria and Iran, keep an eye on China’s pushiness and Pakistan’s fragility, all without being too distracted by the frat-house antics of hormonal generals.
It’s easy to overlook in all that excitement, but your best opportunity to make a major contribution to the security of your country is none of the above. It is the unglamorous, unpopular, unfinished business of right-sizing our defense budget, without putting us at grave risk. What’s that you say? You’d rather go back to reading General Petraeus’s flirty e-mails? I sympathize. Imagine trying to get people to read a column about the budget.
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My Comment: I concur .... the most important task for the next U.S. Secretary of Defense will be to cut the US military without impacting it's capabilities. My prediction .... in today's political environment I do not expect him to succeed.
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