U.S.

Bush's Opening Salvo

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 9, 2001 / 6:12 AM EST / CBS

With the American military already spending nearly $300 billion a year and asking for more, President Bush Friday made clear he wants a review of defense strategy before he increases the Pentagon budget.

"It's important for us to do a top-to-bottom review, review of all missions, spending priorities, and that's exactly what the secretary of defense is going to do," said Mr. Bush, who earlier this week refused to approve a $5 billion supplemental budget request from the Pentagon until the review was complete.

CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports the review will attempt to answer such basic questions as whether the U.S. needs to be able to fight two wars against the likes of Iraq and North Korea at the same time — as current American military doctrine requires — and which weapons it would use.

A key issue is whether the military should buy a new generation of attack aircraft or rely on long range bombers flying non-stop from American shores.

Another important question is whether the U.S. still needs an arsenal of some 7,500 nuclear warheads.

Russia now has about 6,000 warheads for deployed nuclear weapons. The most recent nuclear arms reduction treaty between Russia and the United States calls for cutting both sides' arsenals to 3,500 warheads.

Further reductions, to between 2,000 and 2,500 warheads on each side, were proposed during the Clinton administration as a goal for the next round of arms talks. Mr. Bush has indicated an interest in cutting below that level, although the military has balked at further cuts.

"I think there is an opportunity for the United States to make some unilateral reductions in its nuclear forces down to Start III levels, that is to say in the 2,000- to 2,500-warhead range," said Andrew Krepinivich, an analyst at the Center For Strategic Leadership Assessments.

Two Wars At Once

Since 1993, a basic tenet of the United States' overall defense strategy has been maintaining the ability to fight two wars at once. In the most recent National Security Strategy, the "two-war doctrine" was described:

"For the foreseeable future, the United States, preferably in concert with allies, must have the capability to deter and, if deterrence fails, defeat large-scale, cross-border aggression in two distant teaters in overlapping time frames.

Maintaining a two major theater war capability reassures our friends and allies and makes coalition relationships with the United States more attractive. It deters opportunism elsewhere when we are heavily involved in deterring or defeating aggression in one theater, or while conducting multiple smaller-scale contingencies and engagement activities in other theaters.

It also provides a hedge against the possibility that we might encounter threats larger or more difficult than expected.

A strategy for deterring and defeating aggression in two theaters ensures we maintain the capability and flexibility to meet unknown future threats, while continued global engagement helps preclude such threats from developing."

(NSC)

size>

Cuts in the nuclear arsenal could help the administration gain support abroad for Mr. Bush's plan to build a national missile defense — a project the Europeans question and Russia and China strongly oppose.

The administration Friday signaled that, while taking a fresh look at overall defense policy, it was sticking to its plan to develop the missile defense.

"This is the right thing to do," said Secretary of State Colin Powell. "We are planning to go forward with missile defense because we believe it is achievable."

The administration also signaled that it wanted to move fast on military reform.

Despite the billions of dollars and crucial security issues involved, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants the review panel, which so far does not include any active duty military officers, to complete its work in a matter of weeks or a few months at most.

Although billed by Mr. Bush as "top-to-bottom," one senior officer called the review quick and dirty. Defense officials say it is unlikely to produce any major changes in strategy but will at least allow the Pentagon to start asking for more money.

Mr. Bush promised major improvements in the military during the presidential campaign and aides said he plans to spend most of next week visiting military bases and laying out his ideas.

However, administration and defense officials said earlier this week Mr. Bush does not plan to increase the current $310 billion U.S. defense budget drawn up by former President Clinton for the coming fiscal year.

And the Bush administration has tapped one of the Pentagon's unconventional thinkers, Andrew Marshal, to conduct the defense strategy review, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Marshall is a controversial figure in defense circles for his outspoken criticism of some of the traditional pillars of U.S. defense strategy and procurement policy — from Air Force F-22 fighters to Army tanks and Navy aircraft carriers.

Since the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon has conducted a major reiew of its strategy every four years. The last such Quadrennial Defense Review was in 1997.