Clinton's Bankrupt National Security Strategy.
Abstract
President Clinton's performance in making defense policy has been dismal. His much-touted "Bottom-Up Review" (BUR) of U.S. defense requirements is dead. Practically everyone outside the Clinton Administration and even some senior officials within the Administration know that the Clinton five-year defense plan is hopelessly underfunded. Moreover, the President has not kept his promise to maintain the combat readiness of U.S. forces. Because of underfunding, troops are training less, equipment is not being overhauled, and wartime ammunition stockpiles are running low. Now, with American forces in Haiti and war in Korea still a possibility, the President has issued a national security strategy that ignores what everyone else already has acknowledged about America's declining military readiness. The new Clinton strategy outlines an ambitious program that ranges from strategic deterrence through offensive nuclear forces to aggressive participation in international (U.N.) peacekeeping and "peace making" operations. As military spending shrinks to levels not seen since before World War II, the Administration is pursuing a bizarre array of additional missions in places like Haiti, Rwanda, and Bosnia. The Clinton Administration's failure to provide for the nation's defense has been exposed with the recent publication of defense-related studies by various agencies of the U.S. government.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 27, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA338910