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Updated Thursday, August 18, 2011 11:30 am TWN, AP

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Bigger cuts to defense would 'terribly weaken' US: Panetta

WASHINGTON -- Large new cuts in defense spending would “terribly weaken” U.S. national security, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday as he and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton used a rare joint interview to argue that the nation cannot afford to keep playing partisan games with its finances.

Panetta expressed optimism about progress by American-led forces against the Taliban in Afghanistan and by NATO forces in support of anti-government rebels in Libya. He cited those conflicts as examples of why severe cuts to spending on defense and diplomacy would be dangerous.

Panetta said the Pentagon is prepared to make US$350 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, as agreed by Congress. But he warned of dangers to the national defense if bigger reductions are required.

The recent deficit compromise reached between the White House and Congress set up a special bipartisan committee to draft legislation to find more government cuts. If the committee cannot agree on a deficit-reduction plan by year's end or if Congress rejects its proposal, it would trigger some US$500 billion in additional reductions in projected national security spending.

“This kind of massive cut across the board, which would literally double the number of cuts that we're confronting, that would have devastating effects on our national defense; it would have devastating effects on certainly the State Department,” Panetta said.

Clinton said Americans should understand that in addition to preserving military strength, it is in the nation's security interests to maintain the State Department's role in diplomacy and development. She suggested that the political stalemate over spending cuts has put that in jeopardy.

“It does cast a pall over our ability to project the kind of security interests that are in America's interests,” she said. “This is not about the Defense Department or the State Department ... This is about the United States of America. And we need to have a responsible conversation about how we are going to prepare ourselves for the future.”

Clinton acknowledged that it is harder to defend the State Department budget than military spending.

“It's a harder case because I think there's a lot of both misunderstanding and rejection of the work that is done by the State Department,” she said.

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Comments

August 18, 2011 jlee39@

Paulsboro. NJ 08066

Yes, will all the money wasted on defense, we cannot even win the wars currently underway in Afghanistan (Graveyard of Empires) for 10 years, and Iraq (Operation Iraq Liberation or OIL) for almost 9 years, so why the HELL are we spending more and more money on these illegitimate and un-winnable wars.

Yes; the Pentagon needs to STOP wasting taxpayer money on these wars with NO victory in sight !!! and its economy in the toilet.

The Pentagon will turn the USA into the CSA (Collapsing States of America) or a banana republic if it keeps wasting more money on these un-winnable wars. They are also bankrupting the USA in the process. The USA is terribly weakened by these two wars and its armies are stretched thin from same.

I sincerely wish that everyone would LEARN from America's mistakes, and NOT repeating it.

There's a RISE & FALL to every empire, and the USA is NO exception !!! And the FALL is currently underway if the USA does not get its act together.

After the end of the COLD WAR in 1989, the USA NEVER set a GOOD example for the rest of the world to follow. The world became more screwed up after the USA became the sole superpower in the world after the COLD WAR ended.

You cannot EXPORT democracy to others with a barrel of a gun!!!

Remember that!!! Enough is enough. Remember the Korean and Vietnam wars ??? These wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are a repeat of past mistakes.

You (the USA) want respect around the world, you would have to earn it, without using the barrel of the gun. Diplomacy would be the better solution if done properly.