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Obama launches reshaping, shrinking of US military
Associated Press ^ | Jan. 5, 2012 7:39 PM ET | ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer

Posted on 01/06/2012 7:34:19 PM PST by Olog-hai

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking beyond the wars he inherited, President Barack Obama on Thursday launched a reshaping and shrinking of the military. He vowed to preserve U.S. pre-eminence even as the Army and Marine Corps shed troops and the administration considers reducing its arsenal of nuclear weapons. …

In a presentation at the Pentagon, Obama said the U.S. is "turning a page" after having killed Osama bin Laden, withdrawn troops from Iraq and begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan. He outlined a vision for the future that some Republican lawmakers quickly dubbed wrong-headed.

"Our military will be leaner, but the world must know the United States is going to maintain our military superiority," Obama said with Panetta and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, at his side. …

The economy is more likely to determine Obama's re-election fate than national security. To keep his promises to shrink the deficit and to prove he is serious about fiscal management to voters wary of enormous government spending, Obama must show the oft-protected Pentagon is not exempt.

The political danger, though, is that his opponents will use any slashing of spending to paint the president as weak on security.

Both Panetta and Dempsey said they anticipate heavy criticism of their new strategy, which was begun last spring by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates after Obama called for defense spending cuts. The Pentagon now faces at least $487 billion in cuts in planned defense spending over 10 years.

The criticism from Republicans came quickly.

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, issued a statement saying, "This is a lead-from-behind strategy for a left-behind America." He called it a "retreat from the world in the guise of a new strategy." …

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted2.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
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1 posted on 01/06/2012 7:34:22 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
"Looking beyond the wars he inherited, ..."

Libya and Africa were inherited?

2 posted on 01/06/2012 7:36:20 PM PST by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
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To: Diogenesis

I’m still wondering what happened to the “War of Necessity”, both in terms of rhetoric and action.


3 posted on 01/06/2012 7:37:22 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

China does not exist. Russia does not exist. Radical Islam does not exist.


4 posted on 01/06/2012 7:37:50 PM PST by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2011)
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To: Olog-hai

It’s been the goal of the left all along; destroy the military and take the money saved and dump it into social programs.


5 posted on 01/06/2012 7:38:37 PM PST by Mmogamer (I refudiate the lamestream media, leftists and their prevaricutions.)
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To: Olog-hai

Barry needs the money to build his promised civilian attack force (Gestapo) that he wants to be as strong and powerful as the military. Keep your powder dry.


6 posted on 01/06/2012 7:39:57 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Stop BIG Government Greed!!!!!)
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To: Mmogamer

May god have no mercy!


7 posted on 01/06/2012 7:40:21 PM PST by Empireoftheatom48 (5-4-3-...!)
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To: Olog-hai

He’s trying to wreck house for the next guy because he knows he’s toast ...


8 posted on 01/06/2012 7:40:50 PM PST by BillyBonebrake
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To: Empireoftheatom48

Opps God!


9 posted on 01/06/2012 7:41:39 PM PST by Empireoftheatom48 (5-4-3-...!)
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To: Olog-hai

Getting ready for the next Pearl Harbor.


10 posted on 01/06/2012 7:42:06 PM PST by beethovenfan (If Islam is the solution, the "problem" must be freedom.)
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To: Olog-hai

Will the thousands of released soldiers be added or subtracted from the number of “jobs created” by the POSOTUS?


11 posted on 01/06/2012 7:42:20 PM PST by immadashell
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To: Olog-hai

Zero is pandering to the Paultards.


12 posted on 01/06/2012 7:45:59 PM PST by wjcsux ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: wjcsux
Remember, Citizen: nobama hates you, hates your family, hates your success, hates Free America, hates Americans,m hates the Constitution and hates the Bill of Rights. nobama is a hate crime foisted upon America. nobama is the Destroyer . Everything nobama does is intentional. God help us all.
13 posted on 01/06/2012 7:56:48 PM PST by hal ogen (1st Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Olog-hai
Obama cuts military in half

The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012

As I recall the author (a military officer) predicted a war with Iran in 2012 -- written in 1992 when 1960s Marxist-Alinsky spoiled brats prepared to take over the government with plans to dismantle the military into global-meals-on-wheels service and a "social experiment" lab.

The author described government that became so corrupt and incompetent that for years the military had to do much of the civilian tasks to cover for the nitwits. This left the military so weakened that when it was sent into combat in 2012 it failed.

The military saw no alternative I suppose. I believe at that point they moved to make things right again.

Obamass is now implementing that 1960s Marxist-Alinsky spoiled brats "Bring it all down, man" dream "America." He is an ideological and biological issue of those cretins -- though the teleprompter is now his mentor.

14 posted on 01/06/2012 7:59:24 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: Olog-hai
....the administration considers reducing its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Baraq The Great - his latest in many steps toward TRANSFORMING our Constitutional Republic without a single Constitutional Amendment, and hardly a whimper out of the public, with the exception of a few real patriots who will be nailed to a cross by the state run media. GOAL - NUKE FREE WORLD, led by our current Marxist Pharaoh, Baraq The Great.

Top 10 Reasons Why New START Is A Non-Starter

The New Myths of New START

Top 10 Reasons Not to Trust Russia

US President Barack Obama said today [05 Apr 2009] he is committed to a nuclear-free world during a major speech in Europe. He said the US was "ready to lead", had a "moral responsibility to act" and stood for the right of everybody to live free of fear in the 21st century.


15 posted on 01/06/2012 8:01:04 PM PST by Cheerio (Barry Hussein Soetoro-0bama=The Complete Destruction of American Capitalism)
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To: hal ogen

Keep safe my FRiend.


16 posted on 01/06/2012 8:04:05 PM PST by wjcsux ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: Dallas59

North Korea does not exist. Syria does not exist. Iran does not exist.


17 posted on 01/06/2012 8:07:00 PM PST by Prole (Please pray for the families of Chris and Channon. May God always watch over them)
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To: FlingWingFlyer
Any "Gestapo" of Obamanistas going door to door to take weapons away from Americans would be blown straight to hell.

Countless Americans are pissed off as it is because of the destroyed economy, and the specter of a bunch of damn Stalinists invading their neighborhoods might just push them too far.

18 posted on 01/06/2012 8:13:36 PM PST by Prole (Please pray for the families of Chris and Channon. May God always watch over them)
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No, Obozo, our military will not be “leaner” but rather will be starved into ineffectiveness and America will be much more defenseless. Bill Ayres and Bernardine Dohrn may be pleased as punch but pro-American voters won’t be. Treasonous bastard! When Americans return to control of the White House and both houses of Congress, they will have to rebuild the military.


19 posted on 01/06/2012 8:49:30 PM PST by BlackElk (Dean of Discipline, Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Club: Burn 'em Bright!!!)
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To: Olog-hai
I do not like anything about the sob and voted against him. However, the guy I voted for gave him a backdooor endorsement and did everything to assist his election and not only that, the good people of Arizona expressed their pleasure of what he had done by re-electing him to the Senate for six more years.And last but not least, more people voted for the sob than voted against him and this was one of the things they voted for.

I can still the syphilis faced White punks on television on election night yelling, "Yes we can, yes we did, obama".

That is what the bastards that voted for him voted for, so, other than not liking it, there is not a lot I can do about it.

20 posted on 01/06/2012 8:52:15 PM PST by sport
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