
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 28, 1992                   TAG: 9203300186
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CONGRESS BALKS

IN THE abstract, Congress is all for defense cuts, all for using the peace dividend to address pressing domestic problems, which are numerous.

But NIMBY (not in my back yard) is Congress' official religion. So get ready for a high-pitched and hypocritical effort to defeat the Bush administration's proposal to reduce military reserve and National Guard forces by 234,000 by 1997.

The Pentagon plan, announced Thursday, would affect hundreds of units in all 50 states, saving $20 billion. But NIMBY, squawk the congressmen.

There is, of course, an economic downside. The loss of jobs, even part-time jobs, can mean hardship for many families. Still, if the nation is to enjoy the promised peace dividend, it has to begin with trade-offs. And it's absurd for members of Congress, who've complained loud and long about wasteful defense spending, to balk whenever a specific reduction proposal affects their home districts.

Active-duty forces are being dramatically reduced. Eighty percent of the affected reserve units were designed as a backup for active-duty troops in the event of a full-scale ground war in Europe against the Soviet army.

But "the Red Army is gone," notes Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "The likelihood of a global war, and especially a major war in Europe, has disappeared."

It's prudent to reduce active and reserve forces, and to keep in mind that backup soldiering isn't a jobs program.

by CNB