President Obama announces sweeping new military strategy for Pentagon

Story by The Hill
Written by John T. Bennett and Jeremy Herb

The Pentagon on Thursday unveiled a sweeping new military strategy that jettisons plans for fighting two major wars at once while cutting the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

The strategy describes a new approach to fighting al Qaeda and puts China and Iran on notice, while readying the military for reduced funding and more austere budgets.

It will mean a smaller U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal as the Pentagon enacts $400 billion in cuts, as well as troop reductions, though these are not spelled out.

“As we look beyond the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the end of long-term, nation-building with large military footprints — we’ll be able to ensure our security with smaller conventional ground forces,” President Obama said in prepared remarks for a Pentagon briefing laying out the new strategy.

“Yes, our military will be leaner, but the world must know — the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with Armed Forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats,” Obama said.

At the same time, Obama and the Pentagon’s new strategy argue that the U.S. military can effectively fight al Qaeda even with reduced funding.

“We will keep our armed forces the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped fighting force in history,” Obama writes in the strategy.

Republicans in Congress were quick to blast the new plans, accusing Obama of putting America's military dominance at risk.

“This is a lead from behind strategy for a left-behind America,” said House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). “The President has packaged our retreat from the world in the guise of a new strategy to mask his divestment of our military and national defense. This strategy ensures American decline in exchange for more failed domestic programs.”

The strategy states that as the Afghanistan war winds down, the U.S. operation against al Qaeda will "become more widely distributed." It also will be designed to include "a mix of direct action and security force assistance," meaning the U.S. will help allies combat the extremist network.

In the era of smaller Pentagon budgets, the military "must be capable of deterring and defeating aggression ... in one region even when our forces are committed to a large-scale operation elsewhere," according to the strategy.

The document also vows that Washington will "invest as required" to field the kinds of combat systems that allow U.S. forces to enter and operate where "states such as China and Iran" have weapons intended to deny such access.

The calls for a smaller nuclear arsenal are sure to draw fire from hawkish congressional Republicans.

The strategy argues deterrence goals “can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force," and suggests a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy.

The call for nuclear weapons cuts is an exception in the strategy, which otherwise does not spell out what weapons systems would be cut as the Pentagon budget shrinks. Those specifics will come next month when the 2013 military spending plan goes to Capitol Hill, officials say.

The new strategy signals troop cuts will be coming -- but contains no numbers. "U.S. forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations," it says.

Obama reiterated U.S. plans to shift focus to the Pacific region, with an emphasis on China as the wars in the Middle East near an end.

"As I made clear in Australia, we’ll be strengthening our presence in the Asia Pacific, and budget reductions will not come at the expense of this critical region,” Obama said.

The so-called "comprehensive review" was ordered last year by Obama, at the behest of former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The former Pentagon chief wanted to ensure more than $400 billion in budgets cuts over a decade were made strategically.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey both have said the military can remain lethal and effective if the $350 billion in cuts through 2013 mandated by the August debt deal stand. (The Pentagon contends that will equal a $450 billion cut to planned spending.)

The strategy reveals plans to shake up America's military presence in Europe, which will move "from a focus on current conflicts toward a focus on future capabilities."

The document signals the military will continue adding to its cyber arsenal of offensive and defensive systems. It also states the Pentagon will "enhance" its ability to "conduct effective operations to counter the proliferation of [weapons of mass destruction]."