Opinion Editorial | |
| Monday, April 12, 1999 | |
Conflict Exposes Weaknesses In U.S. Defense |
As the war in Yugoslavia moves into its third week, analysts are just beginning to tally the cost. In some ways it may turn out to be one of the most expensive wars in our history. That is because this minor conflict has exposed weaknesses in U.S. military capacity that have been hidden for 10 years by the collapse of communism. Unless these weaknesses are corrected quickly, they could encourage potential enemies to undertake attacks on the U.S. that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
There is always debate about what is the proper role of government. But except for a few anarchists, everyone agrees that national defense is an essential function of the state. Yet over the last generation, defense has been a steadily declining share of federal government outlays. In 1960, defense accounted for more than 50 percent of all federal spending. Last year it was a little over 16 percent.
Of course, some of the decline in defense as a share of federal spending is simply due to the vast expansion of non-defense spending. But even looking at defense as a share of the total economy also shows a sharp decline.
While no one denies that the Defense Department needed to shrink after the end of the Cold War, the war in Yugoslavia shows that the downsizing has not been well managed. Indeed, press reports indicate that this operation has already stretched U.S. military capacity to the limit. The Air Force is almost out of cruise missiles and must rely on B-52 bombers that are 40 years old to carry out its mission.
The Navy has been forced to scale-back operations in the Persian Gulf to carry out its responsibilities in Yugoslavia, because it has no excess capacity to spare. Meanwhile, there is serious doubt that the Army could sustain a ground campaign in the Balkans for more than a few months without straining its already tight manpower beyond the break point.
At a minimum, billions of dollars in additional defense spending are going to be needed this year and in coming years just to keep our defense capacity from deteriorating further. And if the Yugoslav conflict escalates, billions more will be needed. But failure to spend the money could be even more costly.
Source: Bruce Bartlett, senior fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis, April 12, 1999.
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