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| Bush Outlines Defense
Reforms
United Press International
May 25, 2001
ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 25, 2001 (United Press
International via COMTEX) -- President Bush on Friday broadly outlined
upcoming Defense Department reforms, saying the U.S. military of the
future would be "defined less by size and more by mobility and swiftness."
Bush addressed a graduating class at the U.S. Naval Academy, where
he previewed widely anticipated Pentagon changes by Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld.
"We must build forces that draw upon the
revolutionary advances in the technology of war that will allow us to keep
the peace by redefining war on our terms," Bush said. "I'm committed to
building a future force that is defined less by size and more by mobility
and swiftness, one that is easier to deploy and sustain, one that relies
more heavily on stealth, precision weaponry and information technologies."
Bush added, "Changing the direction of our military is like
changing the course of a mighty ship -- all the more reason for more
research and development, and all the more reason to get started right
away."
Rumsfeld has directed roughly 24 reviews of Pentagon
policies and programs in a largely secret assessment known as "Rumsfeld's
review."
Rumsfeld met with members of Congress on Wednesday as
part of a series of discussions of his ongoing review. Pentagon spokesman
Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said that the meetings would not reveal Rumsfeld's
recommendations, but update Capitol Hill on his methods and progress.
Rumsfeld also talked about the much-delayed 2002 defense budget submission
to Congress.
Neither Rumsfeld nor the White House has set a date
for the completion of the defense review, but the administration is
expected to reveal the bulk of the plan this fall, when Congress is to
approve Pentagon funding in the annual budget.
The biggest change
expected to come from the Rumsfeld review is a recommendation for the
Pentagon to abandon the "two-war" readiness strategy, which calls for the
military to be capable of fighting large-scale conflicts in opposite
hemispheres at the same time.
For nearly a decade, the military
has been guided by the requirement of being able to fight two major
theater wars simultaneously -- wars widely understood to be against North
Korea and Iraq.
But U.S. military action in recent years has been
focused on smaller, more regional situations, like the bombing of Kosovo,
enforcing "no-fly" zones in Iraq and dealing with humanitarian crises
places like Africa.
Rumsfeld himself has hinted that the two-war
strategy would be replaced with something that takes into account the many
smaller operations the U.S. military is called on to support.
In
1999, when the war in Kosovo began, U.S. forces stationed at Incirlik Air
Base, Turkey -- which would normally carry out no-fly-zone enforcement
missions against Iraq -- were sent in large numbers to the Balkans to help
with the 78-day bombing campaign. No northern no-fly zone enforcement
missions were flown for nearly a month.
The Rumsfeld review is
stirring some controversy on Capitol Hill and reportedly with some
military commanders in the field. Some senior officers who have seen
Rumsfeld's initial recommendations have reportedly voiced some doubt about
the effectiveness of the overall strategy. And congressional critics say
Rumsfeld has kept lawmakers at arm's length in the review process.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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