U S to cut almost a 100,000 Troops
BinauralJam
Posts: 14,158
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16751973
The US will have a "smaller, leaner" military, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says, with almost 100,000 US Army and Marine Corps troops cut.
Announcing plans to restructure the military, Mr Panetta said the US would retain the ability to defeat "any enemy on land" and boost special forces.
The Pentagon is facing cuts of $487bn (£310bn) over the next 10 years.
Over five years, 92,000 active duty Army and Marine Corps soldiers would be cut, with some bases closed, he said.
Mr Panetta said the US would continue purchases of F-35 jets, but will slow its purchase of the stealth fighter planes.
Focus would shift from large-scale conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to areas of key national interest, he said, including a strengthened commitment in Asia.
"Our approach was to use this as an opportunity to maintain the strongest military in the world, to not hollow out the force,'' Mr Panetta said in a statement.
Amid a shrinking budget - put at $525bn for the fiscal year 2013 - the US military as envisioned by the new plan would still be larger than it was than before 9/11.
Mr Panetta stressed the need to retain a "decisive technical edge", citing increases in military technology including an expansion of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Well....it's a Start.
The US will have a "smaller, leaner" military, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says, with almost 100,000 US Army and Marine Corps troops cut.
Announcing plans to restructure the military, Mr Panetta said the US would retain the ability to defeat "any enemy on land" and boost special forces.
The Pentagon is facing cuts of $487bn (£310bn) over the next 10 years.
Over five years, 92,000 active duty Army and Marine Corps soldiers would be cut, with some bases closed, he said.
Mr Panetta said the US would continue purchases of F-35 jets, but will slow its purchase of the stealth fighter planes.
Focus would shift from large-scale conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to areas of key national interest, he said, including a strengthened commitment in Asia.
"Our approach was to use this as an opportunity to maintain the strongest military in the world, to not hollow out the force,'' Mr Panetta said in a statement.
Amid a shrinking budget - put at $525bn for the fiscal year 2013 - the US military as envisioned by the new plan would still be larger than it was than before 9/11.
Mr Panetta stressed the need to retain a "decisive technical edge", citing increases in military technology including an expansion of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Well....it's a Start.
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http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/brea ... 6257452459
From: AAP
January 30, 2012 2:22PM
Iraq outraged by use of US drones - report
• IRAQI officials have expressed outrage at the United States' use of a small fleet of surveillance drones to help protect the US embassy, consulates and American personnel in Iraq, The New York Times reports.
• The newspaper says the State Department began operating some drones in Iraq last year on a trial basis and stepped up their use after the last US troops left the country in December.
The US government plans to take bids for the management of drone operations in Iraq over the next five years, the report on Monday said.
The State Department drones carry no weapons and are meant to provide data and images of possible hazards, like public protests or roadblocks, to security forces on the ground, the paper noted. They are much smaller than armed drones.
But the US government needs formal approval from Iraq to use such aircraft there, the paper noted, citing unnamed Iraqi officials.
Such approval may be hard to get given the political tensions between the two countries, The Times said.
A senior American official said negotiations were under way to obtain authorisation for the drone operations, but Ali al-Mosawi, a top adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; Iraq's national security adviser, Falih al-Fayadh; and the acting minister of interior, Adnan al-Asadi, all said in interviews that they had not been consulted by the Americans, the report said.
"Our sky is our sky, not the USA's sky," Asadi is quoted by the paper as saying.
This will greatly shorten the coming war, and allow more time for our children to learn Chinese.
IF only we could completely eliminate the military....
this doesn't end our nuclear threat. While we have the bomb there will be no conventional military attack by China or anyone else.
wouldn't have to be worried if we weren't everywhere around the world.
and brought all of our troops home to defend our borders.
I am glad at the start...hopefully we can turn the economy around and get these men and women back to work
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
I would start Mandarin, but there is also Wu, Cantonese, Yue and Min! :shock:
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I freakin love their oranges.
Im going w the Mandarin... My buddy from college- Taiwanese, speaks Mandarin- he offered to help me, so I can translate when the Red Army gets here. Somebody's gonna have to help Barack explain to Jintao how to work the White House stereo...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
that's awesome!
Hail, Hail!!!
remember, it is ok to spend a trillion dollars to blow up countries and murder people. that is called good ol' fashioned capitalism....if you spent a trillion trying to help people and save lives it is called socialism...
you know better than that..
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
There's a lot more than that. Every area has it's own dialect. There are officially 292 individual Chinese languages, and thousands of dialects.
a friend? Taiwanese?
I kid, I kid.......
Thank you for googling that.
You don't suspect that knowledge might come from the fact that under his avatar it says: Location: China?
:roll:
Byrnzie, do you speak some Chinese? I find it very interesting how you've adjusted to their culture.
Not to get the thread off topic though...wow, big news, worlds most incredibly over-extended military is having cutbacks!? My brother is in the military and all he does is complain about Obama and all the cuts and how his lifestyle is suffering...I dont suppose it should be brought to his attention that tons of companies are having cutbacks and the economy is in the toilet...why should the military be exempt?
sorry to hear about your bro JP, but he should realize that everyone's lifestyle is suffering now.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I speak a little bit. Enough to get by. But they speak a local dialect where I live which makes it difficult for me to learn Mandarin.
And I didn't have to Google that. :roll: