THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507260019
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
House Speaker Newt Gingrich has described himself as a cheap hawk. He favors a strong defense. He doesn't favor overpaying to get it.
One of the original cheap hawks is Lawrence Korb, assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan. In a recent Washington Post article, Korb argues that defense spending is out of line with present realities. In his view, we've gotten peace without the dividend. Korb makes several salient points.
We now spend $30 billion more a year on defense in inflation-adjusted dollars than in 1975 - the end of Vietnam and the height of the Cold War.
Despite worries by defense apologists about a lack of readiness, we now spend 50 percent more per capita on readiness than during the Carter years. We even spend 10 percent more than at the height of the Reagan buildup. As in many public-school districts, maybe the problem is how the money is spent, not how much.
We now spend twice as much on defense as all the other NATO counties combined, five times as much as our nearest competitor and almost as much as the rest of the world's powers combined.
Korb believes military estimates of the strength needed for various contingencies are habitually overstated. He says infrastructure cutbacks have badly lagged cuts in manpower.
Local politics are responsible for keeping bases open and also for maintaining various anachronistic operations and weapons programs. Members of Congress now openly admit they regard large parts of the defense budget more as a jobs program than as an essential part of national security.
Korb also believes the Pentagon still hasn't adopted the kind of efficiency reforms that have made the private sector more productive. His bottom-line conclusion is that a defense budget 30 percent lower would still leave us the best-defended country on Earth if pork, politics and inefficiency could be eliminated.
It isn't necessary to buy all Korb says to conclude that, at a time of wrenching budget cuts, defense can't expect to remain off-limits. Though we face some nasty threats, none equal those we dealt with during the Cold War.
Politicians seem out of step with the public on this issue. Proposed Republican budgets call for spending billions more than the Pentagon has requested. Yet, in a recent CNN/Time poll, 58 percent of respondents opposed spending at that level. As cuts of entitlements come closer, the pressure will mount to put defense back on the table. There are places prudent cuts could easily be made. The Pentagon would be wise to begin preparing for the inevitable. by CNB