Pentagon to unveil strategy shift linked to defense cuts

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is preparing to unveil his strategy that will guide the Pentagon in cutting billions of defense dollars, leaving the U.S. no longer able to maintain its traditional ability to fight two sustained ground wars at the same time, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper quotes unidentifed "senior officials" as saying the new defense doctrine, driven by fiscal reality, would instead leave a military that is able to fight and win a major conflict, while being able to"spoil" an adversary's ambitions elsewhere in the world.

The slashed budget is driven by the fiscal reality, particularly the deal last summer that kept the country from defaulting on its debts. While there is already broad agreement on $450 billion in cuts over a decade, TheTimes notes, there is heavy pressure to cut $500 billion more.

Pentagon officials, the newspaper says, are working on final proposals for potential cuts to virtually every key area of military spending, from the nuclear arsenal and warships to salaries, pensions and health benefits.

Time magazine's Mark Thompson notes, however, that there are few leaks in Panetta's Pentagon, as demonstrated by the lack of specifics in The Times article on what is on the chopping block. That will be outlined in the president's annual budget submission to Congress.

Thompson writes:

Bottom line: the curtain has yet to go up, so we don't really know what's behind it. The possible cuts detailed in the Times on Tuesday have been debated nonstop over the last several months. But most folks don't pay attention until such decisions are ready to be unveiled, which makes the Times' recitation timely.

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