http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/america-grows-weary-of-war-while-our-enemies-amass-their-forces-sequestrations-national-security-toll
As the U.S. cuts important military capabilities to meet arbitrary budget reduction targets, the Department of Defense and the nation’s security will continue to take a beating without some new long-term budget and strategy agreement.
The security of our friends and allies, such as the Republic of Korea, Germany, Columbia and Israel, will also suffer as we risk cuts to tactical air support for Seoul, NATO support for extended nuclear deterrence in Europe and counter insurgency assistance for Bogota against FARC, and missile defenses for Tel Aviv.
Why are we in this predicament? Sequestration — automatic defense budget cuts — are cutting $50 billion a year out of $350 billion in our defense spending this year, and every year, for the next eight years as part of the 2011 debt reduction agreement.
As military personnel costs and the overseas war contingency funding are exempt from such cuts, the remaining accounts — of research, development and acquisition of weapons systems –are being hammered. Moreover, these cuts come on top of the overall defense cuts of $300 billion in 2009; the $175 billion cut in 2010, and the $487 billion cut in 2011.
Added together, defense spending from 2009-2022 has, and will be, reduced by more than $1.5 trillion, not including a projected further near-trillion dollar reduction in 10-year costs of overseas contingency operations such as in Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen.
To avoid further sequestration, we need a new long-term budget agreement — including entitlement reform with spending restraints. Otherwise, as the October 2, 2013 Congressional Budget Office update warned, the U.S. economy will be hard pressed under such rising spending and a growing debt to have sufficient capital to invest in new business to employ the 24 million Americans not now employed or working only part-time.
