U.S. budget woes send 'wrong message' to potential foes: Defense Secretary

[September 17, 2015]  By Andrea Shalal
 
 NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday warned that continued uncertainty about U.S. military spending levels would send "the wrong message at the wrong time" when Russia and China are rapidly advancing their technologies.

Carter told the annual meeting of the Air Force Association that failure by the U.S. Congress to pass a budget before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 could trigger a return to difficult spending cuts and a $38 billion shortfall in funds needed for new weapons, training and operations.

The Pentagon has already made many tough choices and trade-offs about the size of its armed forces, new capabilities and readiness levels as a result of mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration in recent years, Carter said.

But security threats continued to grow around the world, and U.S. forces were now also engaged in a long-term fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, he said.

"In this kind of security environment, we need to be dynamic and responsive. What we have under sequestration or a long-term continuing resolution is a straitjacket," he said.

President Barack Obama urged the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to avoid a government shutdown starting Oct. 1, as Republicans in the House of Representatives struggled to find ways to get enough votes to pass a funding bill.

Carter said a long-term continuing resolution and further spending cuts would force the Pentagon to make "irresponsible reductions," that would be "wasteful to taxpayers and to industry, dangerous for our strategy, unfair to our service members and frankly ... embarrassing around the world."

Pentagon officials have repeatedly warned over the past year that Russia and China are rapidly building up advanced military technologies and cyber capabilities and closing a longstanding technology gap with the United States.

A top U.S. Air Force general on Monday told the conference the Russian military had made great strides in beefing up its air forces in the years since the invasion of Georgia in 2008, and the U.S. air power advantage was shrinking.

Carter said the U.S. Defense Department needed to redouble its focus on developing cutting-edge military technologies, modernizing its nuclear weapons, and expanding its cyber capabilities. Space systems, guided munitions and improved spy systems were other key priorities, he said.

He said the U.S. military would have to adjust its military strategy if the Pentagon was unable to increase its budget to deal with the rapidly emerging threats.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Ken Wills)

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