How do they stack up? Or, more specifically, which candidate wants to undo 16 uninterrupted years of cuts to our Armed Forces? All of them, actually (sans weird Ron Paul). An overview of their defense proposals follows, but I think the best prescription comes from Fred Thompson.
All of the candidates seem to recognize that Rumsfeld's lighter force concept has failed and that some sort of revitalization effort is long overdue, but only Thompson properly outlines the scope of the problem and the appropriate fix. Rudy's 10 additional BCTs, 300 ship navy, and force modernization plan is a step in the right direction--it's a strong showing from the mayor. McCain would be an outstanding wartime leader (the best of the lot, in my opinion), but he opted to go with a broad overview instead of specifics. I liked Romney's proposal to trim down the Pentagon bureaucracy but--when describing the details--he sounded like..well, a bureaucrat.
Huckabee surprised me. I had to dig for it, but the governor wants to go back to Reagan-era defense spending, with the Pentagon racking in a full 6 percent of the GDP. Great plan, though I'm unsure he understands what he's saying. We're at 3.9 percent GDP for defense right now, nearly doubling that number without raising taxes sounds like a fool's errand. That makes Fred's plan seem more reasonable and calculated, and Huck sound like he's just throwing money at the problem.
Here are the specifics:
Mitt Romney:
We must increase the size of our military by 100,000 troops. In addition, we should increase to at least four percent of our gross domestic product to defense. This kind of investment will make up for critical gaps in the modernization of our equipment, personnel and health care efforts. However, as we invest in our military, we must ensure that funds are used to address critical needs of the men and women of our Armed Forces, not political or contractor interests.
Rudy Giuliani:
Mayor Giuliani will ensure that our military has all the forces, tools, skills, and technologies it needs to defeat the terrorists and address other future threats. He will add at least 10 new combat brigades to the Army and will expand our Navy to more than 300 ships. He will ensure that the Air Force has the new refueling tankers it needs, and will build a new long range bomber to replace the B-52.
Fred Thompson:
To address the problems and challenges faced by our Armed Forces today, the following initiatives will put us on the path to revitalizing our all-volunteer military over the coming years, enable the United States to advance its interests abroad, and ensure the long-term security of our nation for decades.
-Be prepared to increase the core defense budget up to 4.5% of GDP to support the expansion, modernization, and increased readiness of U.S. military forces.
-Build a "Million-Member"ground force capable of handling peacetime and wartime tasks without wearing out the troops and increasing U.S. vulnerability.
-Enhance the capabilities of America's Special Operations Forces (SOF) to conduct counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, and other "special" operations
-Increase the U.S. Navy fleet to at least 325 ships to increase mission capability across the full spectrum of operations and maintain the ability to project power globally.
-Complete the modernization of the U.S. Air Force to ensure continued tactical air dominance over all potential adversaries and the ability to project power globally.
The U.S. military is at a strategic crossroads. Years of neglect, conflict, and long deployments are reducing the readiness, effectiveness and flexibility of the greatest military force in history. It is time to restore President Reagan's promise of "peace through strength" by making the investments and hard decisions necessary to safeguard the nation's long-term security. The fact is, we can and must do this.
