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23 October 2008

How Will the Next President Affect Military Size and Scope?

How much will the next President really effect the size and structure of the US military? They've clearly drawn differences in the missions they'd prefer for the military, but both seem to agree on expansion and enlargement:
Barack Obama and John McCain each promise that as president they'd continue to transform the U.S. military into a bigger, more agile force that can tackle insurgencies and help allies thwart terrorism.
However, the candidates differ on what role the military should play in global affairs.
...
While there may be big differences in how the presidential candidates would use the military, they generally agree on what kind of force the U.S. needs.
"Temperamentally, Senators Obama and McCain are very different on defense. But when you read the details of their defense positions, they are remarkably similar," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a conservative public policy organization. "They both want to bolster intelligence, focus on counter-terrorism, reduce big-ticket weapons systems and crack down on defense contracts."
Both men call for rebuilding U.S. ground forces, whose troops and equipment have been exhausted by seven years of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The next president will find a military that's still struggling to balance training for counter-insurgency and maintaining its ability to fight conventional wars.
McCain would like to increase the size of U.S. ground forces — the Army and Marines — by 150,000 troops to roughly 900,000.


By: Brant

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