Apr 09 2009

Def. Sec. Robert Gates: Radical Overhaul of the Pentagon’s Arsenal

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Pentagon Chief: Why I Tore Up the Army’s ‘Future’

Of all the hard choices Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to make in his radical overhaul of the Pentagon’s arsenal, the toughest, he tells Danger Room, was the decision to gut Future Combat Systems, the Army’s $200 billion effort to design a fleet of next-generation tanks and troop carriers.

“Most difficult of all of these for me was the FCS program,” Gates says in a Pentagon conference call. “I actually didn’t make up my mind once and for all on it until this weekend.”

This link brings up Windows Media Player for conference call.

At the end of this phone conference, which last about thirty five minutes, the Defense Secretary talks about the Military and Veterans, as well as their families, care monies that have been off budget, or not even thought of or included, and in the supplementals these years of these two occupations, which now will be included in the Defense Budget, nothing hidden, we hope!

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And the mindset should Always Be: “War as a very last resort!!”! No Wars Of Choice Which Damages Our Nations Security And Moral Standing!!

6 comments

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  1. “””I think she is extremely sloppy”””

    Burr to support Iraq vet for post at Veterans Affairs

    Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina has agreed to allow the nomination of injured Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth go forward for a top post in the Veterans Affairs administration.

    And that ‘sloppy’ comment comes from a Representative of the People who, along with his staff, rarely answers correspondence, like Sen. Dole before and with him! And when deciding to place the hold on the Duckworth nomination didn’t offer a reason why nor once decided to lift didn’t make a comment till two days later! “Sloppy” Senator Burr, look in a mirror, and look at your staff, All on our dime!!

    The public, who you serve, and us Vets who did our service and need the VA cleaned up after the almost total incompetent administration of during two wars. Of which your political affiliation held the power and the purse strings during those first many years. Had to find out about your release of the hold through the public media

    with No Public Statement From You!!  Clean up your own ‘sloppy’ house senator!!

  2. Dignified Transfer Ceremony

    An Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, at Dover Air Force Base, Del., April 7. Specialist Candelaria Mejias died April 5 near Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when a mine detonated near him during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment in Task Force 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172nd Brigade Combat Team, Grafenwoehr, Germany. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

    – Roland Balik U.S. Air Force Roland Balik

  3. Shia crowds decry US role in Iraq 4.09.09Shia crowds decry US role in Iraq

    Supporters of Moqtada Sadr protest in Baghdad 09.04.09

    Protesters carried flags and shouted anti-US slogans

    Tens of thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr have rallied against the US presence in Iraq, six years after Saddam Hussein’s fall.

    Protesters in Baghdad’s Firdos Square carried pictures of the cleric and chanted slogans denouncing what they called the occupation of Iraq.

    Six years ago, US troops reached the square and helped Iraqis pull down a statue of their former leader there.

     

    • ANKOSS on April 10, 2009 at 17:13
    • #

    Most of the big programs have huge termination costs built into the contracts. These provisions are the equivalent of the golden parachutes fired executives enjoy. Lost in all the PR about Gates agonizing over cuts is the fact that the defense budget continues to INCREASE. Let that sink in for a minute or two.

    The defense contractors own the DoD through their political donations and their revolving door employment programs. It will be the decline of the US economy, accelerated by our love of weapons and war, that finally cuts the defense budget. Gates’ posturing is just bull$it.

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