The Patriot Post® · Cuts Endanger Military's Duty to Defend Nation

As the U.S. Army cuts its forces to 490,000, and then to 450,000 due to budget constraints, it will struggle with training and standing equipped to respond to national security crises around the world, according to U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno. “The problem is that since we made those statements [about the cuts], the world is changing in front of us,” Ordierno said. “I now have concerns whether even the old level of 490,000 is the right thing to do because of what I see potentially on the horizon.” That horizon is filled with an emboldened Russia, ISIL and the spreading scourge of Ebola. But while the federal government has an enumerated, constitutional duty to create a military force to provide for the defense of the nation, the military is not immune from government waste plaguing other agencies. For example, the Pentagon bought the Afghani government 20 Italian airplanes – totaling $486 million – but the planes were defective. The scrapped planes recouped $32,000. Maybe they should have bought American-made equipment.