US president unveils strategy for a slimmed-down military

Obama cuts budgets but vows US forces will remain dominant

WASHINGTON // President Barack Obama, rolling out a new defence strategy to shrink the country’s armed forces at a time of tight budgets at home, pledged yesterday to maintain the US as the world’s dominant military power.

“Our military will be leaner but the world must know – the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats,” Mr Obama told a news briefing at the Pentagon. Emphasising the American presence in the Asia- Pacific region, where there is growing US rivalry with an increasingly assertive China, Mr Obama cautioned that the military would remain vigilant in the Middle East.

China is a particular worry because of its economic dynamism and rapid defence build-up. A more immediate concern is Iran, not only for its threats to disrupt the flow of oil but also for its nuclear ambitions.

US troops last month completed their withdrawal from Iraq, which was invaded in 2003 to topple dictator Saddam Hussein, and are winding down their presence in Afghanistan. Mr Obama, focused on boosting economic growth and curbing stubbornly high US unemployment as he fights for re- election in November, said ending those two wars was an opportunity to rebalance national spending priorities after a decade of conflict. Noting the defence budget had witnessed “extraordinary” growth after the terror attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, Mr Obama said that pace of spending would slow but continue to grow.

“I firmly believe, and I think the American people understand, that we can keep our military strong – and our nation secure – with a defence budget that continues to be larger than roughly the next 10 countries combined,” he said. Mr Obama has earmarked defence budget cuts of $489 billion (Dh1.8trillion) over 10 years.

The defence budget faces an additional $600bn in cuts after Congress failed to agree to broad deficit reduction after an August 2011 debt ceiling deal.

The president’s budget proposal for 2013 will be published in early February.

“Some will no doubt say the spending reductions are too big; others will say they are too small,” Mr Obama said. “After a decade of war, and as we rebuild the sources of our strength – at home and abroad – it’s time to restore that balance.”

In a presidential election year, the strategy gives Mr Obama a rhetorical tool to defend his Pentagon budget-cutting choices. Republican contenders for the White House have criticised Mr Obama on a wide range of national security issues, including missile defence, Iran and planned reductions in ground forces. Mr Obama wants the new strategy to represent a pivot point in his stewardship of defence policy, which has been burdened throughout his presidency by the wars he inherited. On a trip to Asia last autumn, the defence secretary, Leon Panetta, made it clear that the region would be central to American security strategy. “We are at a turning point after a decade of war,” Mr Panetta said in Japan. He added Al Qaeda was among a range of concerns that would keep the military busy, but as a traditional Pacific power, the US had to build a wider and deeper network of alliances and partnerships in that region. “Most importantly, we have the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the Pacific – and we will,” he said. The administration does not anticipate military conflict in Asia, but Mr Panetta believes the US got so bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan that it missed chances to improve its position in other regions.