Wicker speaking about Obama’s won’ts in upcoming QDR
Wicker, speaking Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said he is confident that four things prominently featured in the 2006 incarnation will be cast aside this time:
? The two-major war planning construct. Several top military leaders have recently all but officially buried the idea that American forces must be ready to fight two conventional wars in separate theaters at once. Wicker said this, if it happens, will be “a big departure,” adding he will “be surprised if that’s not gone.”
? Shrinking the size of the force. This time around, he said, it is likely the QDR will call for increasing the size of the military. “This one is going to talk about boots on the ground,” he said. He said it is very likely the Defense Department will decide more feet will be needed to fill those boots.
? Moving from garrisoned to expeditionary forces.
? America’s economic muscle. Wicker predicted the 2010 QDR will exclude “any mention of the need for a strong American economy.” He pointed to history, saying, “the Soviet Union’s military strategies of the 1980s could not be supported by its economy.”
Defense News
7/20/9
