Posted on 03/11/2015 9:01:21 AM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — The United States is in danger from both national politics and international issues, Republican congresswoman Martha McSally said Monday night.
Speaking at the Fort Huachuca 50 dinner, attended by more than 60, the first-term Congresswoman said that if sequestration continues as part of the national budgeting process, America’s defense capabilities will be reduced, opening an avenue for international threats, such as ISIS, McSally said.
“We have sequestration causing us to shrink our defense budget,” she said. “A state sponsor of terrorism in Iran, Russia continues to invades its neighbors and ISIS, the most barbaric organization I’ve seen in my lifetime … So we have a budget-based strategy going on right right now, but not a strategy-based budget (for the military).”
The current military budgeting process is backwards, McSally said, adding that sequestration must end because it is not a good process by which to fund government operations. She warned it could lead to an internal fight in the GOP, as some conservative house members could buck the party leadership.
McSally told the Fort Huachuca 50 that intertwined with the sequestration issue is a potential of a “shadow BRAC,” which could impinge on missions on the Army post
Movement of missions from the fort to other Army installations have to be guarded against, she said.
The Army leadership is “East Coast-focused,” the congresswoman said, and protecting the high-tech capabilities of the Arizona post is “a challenge.”
Many in the top echelon of the Army have no understanding of what the post does and its critical impact for the nation’s defense readiness is lacking, the congresswoman said.
Fort officials and community leaders have been reaching out to all branches of the military services to have units come to the post for training by taking advantage of its various ranges, including the mountainous terrain, as well as its high-altitude aircraft capabilities.
The post is the home of the Army’s Center of Excellence of Intelligence training, has a major communications unit, the Network Enterprise Technology Command which is instrumental in cyber protection of the Army’s internets, a major testing unit the Army Electronic Proving Ground, is home to the Department of Defense’s Joint Interoperability Test Command, is the major training center for unmanned aerial systems and other technology-based functions.
As the American government struggles with budget issues, sometimes of their own making, they have to look beyond America’s borders and see the ever-growing threats, McSally said.
One of those threats are members of the Iranian Republican Guard, also known as Quds — the holy name of Jerusalem — which are currently in Iraq providing support to Shi’ite Muslims in countering ISIS, the congresswoman said.
“They are heading the charge in Iraq … providing direction and support … and we are just watching it happen,” she said. “Are we coordinating with Iran or are we not coordinating with Iran?”
The issue is “bizarre” because America is dealing “with a state-sponsored terrorism” group, McSally said.
As to ongoing negotions with the Iranian government over its nuclear program, McSally said, “the (Obama) administration is not thinking straight from my perspective.”
Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum (D) said, “Even though I believe in miracles, it is becoming very clear to me the Budget Control Act funding levels will be the law of the land.”
Those words and others from members of the House Appropriations Committee were expressed to Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on March 4, The Army Times reported.
On Tuesday, an Op-Ed written by Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain, who chairs the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, and the House’s equivalent, chairman Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry, were published in the Wall Street Journal, calling for the end of sequestration.
The Army Times piece noted that in the next 10 years, sequestration will cut the military by almost a trillion dollars to the detriment of national security.
“There is widespread concern that Defense Department spending is too wasteful. Of course there is waste in the Pentagon — as everyone in the federal government knows — and efforts to eliminate it must continue. But sequestration does not target Pentagon waste. It cuts spending recklessly across the board, good programs and bad. Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is accomplished through vigorous oversight in Congress and at the Pentagon, not through blind, automatic spending cuts,” McCain and Thornberry wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
This is a prime example of our Congress people having the wrong focus.
THEIR focus is keeping the money coming into THEIR districts.
A strong military is a strong military. Making sure each district gets their face in the trough is not the focus.
Our representatives are not interested in the quality of the defense of America. They are interested in getting re-elected, and making sure the slop falls in their area.
This is why they ALL need to go. This is why we need to dismantle the Military Industrial Complex.
Fort Leonard Wood, southeast of here, is about to lose 5,000 positions.
Big hit for Missouri.
What a disappointment little missie mcsally is.
Just McCain’s mini-me.
She voted to fund Obama’s Amnesty - something that will cost the country its soul, not to mention hundreds of billions of dollars - and then has the gall to talk about ending sequestration?
But I do agree the military is focused on the East Coast. They worry about Iraq’s borders and Europe’s problems.
They SHOULD be worried about OUR border, and they SHOULD be deployed there.
When I hear them and her chatting about that, we’ll get interested in ending sequestration.
Apparently there is some sweating over Fort Jackson too.
” She voted to fund Obama’s Amnesty - something that will cost the country its soul, not to mention hundreds of billions of dollars - and then has the gall to talk about ending sequestration?”
Totally predictable. Big Biz, and 6 regional Chambers of Commerce backed her. She was a traitor before she completed her first day in office.
Contributors MATTER!
So you dislike Defense Contractors?
I dislike how the defense contractors own congress.
Do I support the military? You bet.
Do I want them to have the best material? You bet.
Do I think they are being horribly used and provided with the “best” equipment? I do not.
Its a very grey world. You have to look at who has their beak in the trough. We provide billions in military aid to countries, as long as they buy our stuff. Tell me why we would NOT want perpetual war around the planet if it fills our coffers?
The Army leadership is “East Coast-focused,” the congresswoman said, and protecting the high-tech capabilities of the Arizona post is “a challenge.”
Damn straight.
Thank you for saying what I was going to say.
McSally is on the payroll of The Cheap Labor Express
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.