Issue Position: Defense - Reforming the Military to Meet Real Threats

Issue Position

The military budget is half the discretionary federal budget, yet our troops do not get the support they deserve. By eliminating wasteful and unnecessary Pentagon spending, Congressman Kucinich believes we can have a better national defense.

Defense budgets must be based on the current realities of the world. To properly defend America, we must understand who our adversaries and potential adversaries are, and their strengths and weaknesses.

We now face the relatively new threat of terrorism. Because of the recent build up of cold war weapons we are forced to fight this new threat with cold war tactics and theories. However, ICBMs, missile defense, jet fighters, and battleships do not protect us from terrorists. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq proves that point as we did not disable Al Qaeda, not capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

Consider the weapons we are purchasing as compared to the threats we face:

* We are buying the F22, an expensive cold war jet fighter that is only a modest improvement over the F15. Yet, in every conflict since 1990 we have quickly achieved air superiority. Al Qaeda lacks hard targets and is not threatened by the F22.

* We are also buying a new destroyer, the DD(X) designed to attack land targets. In every major conflict since 1990, we have had limited use for such a system considering the availability of cruise missiles. Al Qaeda does not have a Navy and is not threatened by the DD(X).

* Finally, we are buying a national missile defense system that will cost a hundred billion dollars and won't work. Al Qaeda has no ICBMs and is not deterred by the national missile defense system. In fact, by wasting so many resources on building this boondoggle system, we are underfunding important homeland security initiatives that could protect us for al Qaeda attacks.

Congressman Kucinich has proposed that we reform our defense programs to accurately reflect current threats. At least $60 billion in defense programs can be transferred to homeland security, education and health programs that do far more to meet the real threats Americans are facing today.

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