PTI, Washington :
The US plans to shrink the size of its military to its smallest force since pre-World War II level and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets, according to a media report.
US defence secretary Chuck Hagel’s proposal, outlined by several Pentagon officials, would be aimed at reducing defence spending in the face of government austerity, after a pledge by US President Barack Obama to end US involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, The New York Times reported.
The plan would leave the military capable of defeating any enemy but too small for long foreign occupations and would involve greater risk if US forces were asked to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time, the paper said, citing Pentagon officials.
“Success would take longer, they say, and there would be a larger number of casualties,” the NYT said.
“You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can’t carry a large land-war defence department when there is no large land war,” the paper quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying.
Over all, Hagel’s proposal, the officials said, is designed to allow the American military to fulfill US President Obama’s national security directives: to defend American territory and the nation’s interests overseas and to deter aggression ? and to win decisively if again ordered to war.
