Editorial: Slimming down Saturday, 07 January 2012 04:40

President Barack Obama has announced a new defence strategy, one that has been framed taking into consideration the new realities on the global stage where America is involved militarily and non-militarily.  Coming from the global superpower, the strategy is awaited keenly by every country and by defence experts all over the world, and is interpreted for its implications.

In a sense, the strategy announced on Thursday just follows Obama’s highly publicised plan to shift military spending away from a combat-troop presence in the Middle East and toward intelligence gathering, surveillance and counter-terrorism efforts.

For decades, fighting two wars at once has been the basic tenet for Pentagon planners. The new policy states clearly that Washington will never fight wars like Iraq and Afghanistan again. It’s basically an admission of defeat, that both the wars were a disaster for Pentagon, and therefore would not want to get bogged down in another one. Facing reelection next year, Obama is closing the lid on Iraq and Afghanistan.

A major highlight of the new strategy is the reassertion of America’s position in the Asia-Pacific region. It identifies India as a long-term strategic partner that can serve as a counterweight in the Indian Ocean region. It also plans a reduction in military spending by at least $480bn over the next decade and the winding down of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. “Our military will be leaner, but the world must know the United States is going to maintain our military superiority,” Obama said with Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, at his side. The strategy strongly suggests a reduced US military presence in Europe, despite the continuing close relationship with NATO. The Pentagon is expected to pull some troops out of Europe.

The economy is likely to be a bigger issue for US voters than national security. The defence cutting is part of his economic plan to shrink the deficit and prove to voters who are wary of enormous government spending that he is serious about fiscal management.

A reduction in US defence spending is good news because it is likely to be followed by other superpowers with a similar cuts in their spending.

Interestingly , the the defence plan comes as tension is escalating in our region over the Iranian nuclear programme. The US and Israeli forces are preparing for what Washington has described as the largest-ever US-Israeli military exercise, which is intended to test US and Israeli air defenses against missiles and rockets, while Iran too has announced new naval exercises.

Avoiding a confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz at any cost must be a priority for Pentagon, despite the compulsions Obama is facing in an election year.