Washington Times Rowan Scarborough - Clinton rebuffed defense spending increase. Lott: "growing inability of our country to man the uniformed services"... "The senator said the 1.4-million-member force is undermanned when matched against overseas commitments such as South Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Persian Gulf."

Washington Times 8/13/98 Rowan Scarborough "The military is kicking out more than one-third of its enlisted personnel for misbehavior, performance shortfalls, obesity, pregnancy and physical problems before they complete a first enlistment"

Washington Post 8/13/98 Bradley Graham and Eric Pianin "The Marine Corps is using retreads on its armored vehicles. Rising numbers of Air Force and Navy jet fighters are being grounded by spare-parts shortages and maintenance backlogs, and pilots fed up with repeated duty in the Persian Gulf are bailing out of military service in droves. At Army training facilities, commanders report that units arriving for exercises have shakier combat skills than in years past. Throughout the military, there is mounting evidence of erosion in America's combat strength and troop morale. A decade of downsizing and reduced post-Cold War defense spending has coincided with a sharp jump in the number of troop deployments to Bosnia, the Middle East and elsewhere, straining the armed forces in ways unseen since the last wave of defense budget cuts after the Vietnam War"

Florida Times/Union 9/1/98 "The American military is on the verge of a major crisis. U.S. Rep. Tillie Fowler, RJacksonville, notes that deployments have increased dramatically under the Clinton administration. The Army, she says, has been assigned 26 non-routine ''operational events'' since 1991. There had been only 10 in the preceding 31 years. The Air Force has undertaken 500 humanitarian missions to former Soviet states alone since 1992. But funding has not kept pace."

Washington Times 9/10/98 Rowan Scaraborough "The commander for all Army forces in the United States warns in an internal memo that "we can no longer train and sustain the force" under current defense spending and says "this threatens our ability to mobilize, deploy, fight and win."

AP 9/29/98 "The nation's top general said today that without more pay, benefits and new equipment, America's undersupplied and overworked military will go into ``a nosedive'' and suffer irreparable damage...Shelton said. ``The best tanks, planes and ships in the world are not what make our military the superb force that it is today. ... Our people are more important than hardware.''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer 10/26/98 Ed Offle ".When one of its carrier-based electronic warfare squadrons returned from six months overseas a year ago, the first thing headquarters did was hold a homecoming party with families, champagne and balloons. Its second action, hours later, was to take away half the squadron's EA-6B Prowler aircraft and give them to other units, leaving the squadron unable to meet training requirements. The Electronic Attack Wing has 57 aircraft to divide among a training unit and 14 operational squadrons-19 aircraft less than the authorized inventory of four aircraft per squadron and 20 for the training unit..Squadrons in training that have to borrow other units' aircraft have to spend extra hours conducting the detailed maintenance to certify the aircraft. This overworks experienced technicians while cutting into the training time for junior sailors, officials said. Squadron commanders at Whidbey say there has been a recent exodus of experienced technicians from the service, partly because of these added pressures..Even when operating with a full load of aircraft, Prowler squadrons are frequently short of spare parts and must cannibalize planes to keep the maximum number flying..For budgetary and political reasons, the Navy this year severely cut back on low-level training flights and high G-force flight maneuvers that Prowler aviators say is essential to survive in combat.."

U.S. News & World Report 11/23/98 Richard Newman ".When Navy leaders realized earlier this year they would miss their annual recruiting goal, they considered a risky bailout: signing up applicants who scored near the bottom on mental-aptitude tests. After a minirevolt by several admirals, the Navy decided instead to leave unfilled about 7,000 seagoing slots in the recruiting year that ended in September. But they may have only been delaying the inevitable. Pentagon officials tell U.S. News that within six months or so, the Navy will have no choice but to start accepting some "Category IV" enlistees--those with below-average IQs who score between the l0th and 30th percentile on the military's SAT-style tests. The Army is also preparing to make concessions to fill its ranks. In October, it granted home-schooled teenagers the same status as high school graduates, making them eligible to enlist. And Army officials are considering ways to sign up more holders of general equivalency diplomas (GEDs), who typically don't perform as well as high school graduates. "The only way to solve this," says an Army official, "is to lower quality."."

AP 11/17/98 Laura Myers ".Frequent military buildups in the Persian Gulf since the 1991 war have cost the nation about $7 billion, in addition to the tens of billions of dollars some budget analysts estimate is spent annually on maintaining a strong U.S. military in the region. The Pentagon does not release figures on the spending for day-to-day Gulf duties, though officials said that if that force weren't deployed in the Gulf region, it would be operating elsewhere. But by private budget analysts' estimates, roughly $50 billion of the annual $270 billion in U.S. defense spending goes toward maintaining the Gulf deployment and keeping the Iraqi president in line..The extra cost of military buildups in the Gulf since the war has ranged from $100 million in 1992 to $1.4 billion for the two U.S. confrontations with Iraq during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The total is about $7 billion, the Pentagon said. In comparison, the Gulf War -- with a U.S. military buildup that began in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait -- cost $61 billion, but U.S. coalition allies picked up all but $7.4 billion, the Pentagon said. ."

Investors Business Daily 12/7/98 Brian Mitchell ".A reporter recently asked Adm. Harold Gehman, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Command, about the Navy's mission and how the Navy planned to accomplish it with just 330 ships afloat. Gehman answered, ''It all depends on what the definition of 'it' is.'' During the Reagan administration's buildup in the '80s, the fleet had more than 550 ships. The Navy can't get any smaller with all that it's doing now, Gehman said. ''On the other hand, if the world turns into a peaceful place, we can afford a smaller Navy,'' he said. Today's U.S. military strategy is unclear.."

ABCNews.com 12/29/98 ".By attacking Iraq earlier this month, the U.S. military may have bombed its way into a shortage of the cruise missiles it uses to keep aircraft and their pilots out of harm's way. Pentagon planners, already dealing with tightening budgets, must now decide whether to spend the millions it takes to replace the crucial weapons, or wait for next-generation technology that may - or may not - be just over the horizon. U.S. B-52 bombers fired more than 90 cruise missiles into Iraq in the four days of Operation Desert Fox, using up some 40% of the most powerful missiles in the Air Force's inventory. But the air-launched weapons, made by Boeing, have been out of production for years, and there is no easy way to replace them. Not only does each missile cost $1 million, but to re-open production would be "prohibitively expensive," says Robert Wall, military editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology..."

Washington Times 01/01/99 Rowan Scarborough ".Navy Secretary Richard Danzig says there is a morale problem among his surface-ship officers and believes the malady is tied to high deployment rates and relatively low pay. Mr. Danzig, a former Navy undersecretary who was sworn in Nov. 16 as the Navy's and the Marine Corps' top civilian, also said in an interview he is embarking on a program called "Smart Work" to reduce ship workloads. "I think there is a morale problem," Mr. Danzig said, referring to a recent survey of surface-warfare officers who man destroyers, cruisers and other combat ships. The Navy has known for months that aviators are fleeing the service in near-record numbers. The pilots are put off by high operational rates and enticed by better-paying jobs flying commercial airliners. Now the sea service sees those same disturbing trends among young officers who operate the 300-ship Navy. Commenting on a survey showing fewer junior officers want command jobs, Mr. Danzig said: "That worries me. That worries me a lot. Just as it worries me when I see the retention rate in the surface Navy among junior officers is 25 percent, where our desired retention rate is more like 38 percent." "What I find is they're concerned. They're concerned about their activities in terms of wear and tear on them during deployment. They're concerned about issues associated with pay and retirement. ... And they want to see a leadership that genuinely cares about them. And so for me, they are all issues." ."

Washington Times 1/7/99 Harry Summers ".While 1998 was our "Year of Living Shamelessly," 1999 may well prove to be our "Year of Living Dangerously." As we begin the new year it is becoming increasingly apparent that the underlying strategic tenet of the early Clinton administration -- that war-fighting, not peacekeeping, was the military's fundamental purpose -- has seriously eroded. "We're warriors," said Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell in 1993 when he announced the results of Mr. Clinton's "Bottom Up Review" on the size, structure and purpose of the post-Gulf war military. "Because we are warriors, we can do some of these other new missions that are coming along --peacekeeping, humanitarian relief, disaster relief -- you name it, we can do it. . . but we never want to do it in such a way that we lose sight of the focus of why you have armed forces -- to fight and win our nation's wars." .But that emphasis on war-fighting came under fire almost from the start. Led by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who now dominates the national security debate, foreign policy internationalists condemned what they saw as the Defense Department's xenophobic concern with U.S. national interests and instead advocated a new national strategy of "enlargement and engagement." Like the fatally flawed Vietnam War counterinsurgency strategies before it, this new strategy was based on the conceit we knew what political, economic and social structures were best for other nations. If they were weak enough, as in the Balkans, we would bully them into it, at the point of a bayonet if need be. The earlier emphasis on war-fighting has been swept aside. "Nation-building" is now the rage, with U.S. troops now deployed in some 100 nations around the world.."

USA Today 1/11/99 Bob Smith by Freeper Stand Watch Listen "."Which military are you looking at?" That's my question for anyone who thinks that America is spending too much on defense. Since 1985, the U.S. military has - in real terms - become 40% smaller and 40% poorer. The armed services are lowering quality standards and still falling short of recruiting goals easily met a decade ago. Equipment is aging. Airplanes are in disrepair, ships are undermanned, units go without vital training, and individuals spend too much time overseas. It's no surprise that thousands of good people leave each year.."

Defense Week 1/11/99 John Donnelly by Freeper Stand Watch Listen ".If the Clinton administration keeps increasing defense spending at this rate, the military could face a $90-billion shortfall in the next six years. Notwithstanding popular opinion, the president last week gave the joint chiefs about 40 percent of what they asked for last September in high-profile testimony. What they asked for may have been, as some contend, excessive. But they never said so at the time, only now that the president has, as is his right, declined most of their request. Make no mistake: The chiefs got more money, a lot more money. But the gap between what they asked for in September and what they got in January is far wider than has been reported. ."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 1/16/99 ".Facing a shortage of sailors at sea, the Navy announced yesterday that it would lower educational standards for new recruits as part of a series of initiatives to increase enlistments. Since the end of the Cold War, the Navy has required that 95 percent of new recruits have a high school diploma, but for the first time in a decade it will require no more than 90 percent.."

Associated Press 1/20/99 Tom Raum Freeper Brian Mosely ".The $12 billion in extra military spending President Clinton is proposing falls short of meeting many pressing Pentagon needs, the nation's top military commanders told Congress Wednesday.."

Navy Times 2/1/99 Bob Barr Freeper Stand Watch Listen ".Clinton's misuse of the military started Aug. 25, 1992, when Governor Clinton told the American Legion's national convention in Chicago: "As commander in chief, I will fight to ensure that our troops who must go into battle are the best trained, best equipped and the best supported in the world." ...* In each defense budget for the past five years, inadequate funding has clearly jeopardized national defense. Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, Powell's successor, warned Clinton that his budget for weapons procurement posed a national security threat that will "risk future combat readiness of the U.S. military." Based on recent testimony by the service chiefs, the president now concedes a readiness problem exists in our armed forces.."

Washington Times 1/27/99 Helle Bering ".One wonders if the state of American defense is not worse than has been argued by conservatives when even President Clinton starts to take notice. The weeks preceding and following Mr. Clinton's State of the Union address have seen several defense initiatives emanate from the administration, much to the astonishment of the people who have been advocating them for years. It may simply be that White House polls have turned up defense as a winning issue with the public, the result of our tug of war with Saddam Hussein and terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya last summer. But whatever the reason, Mr. Clinton has appropriated yet another set of Republican issues -- having successfully moved to take credit for welfare reform and the balanced budget."

Washington Post 1/29/99 Vernon Loeb ".The general who commands U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf expressed deep reservations yesterday about the Clinton administration's proposal to arm the Iraqi opposition and said such a move could backfire and create a "rogue state" in Iraq even more destabilizing than the regime of President Saddam Hussein. Echoing concerns over arming the opposition voiced this week by key U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, Marine Corps Gen. Anthony C. Zinni told the Senate Armed Services Committee that none of 91 Iraqi opposition groups has "the viability to overthrow Saddam at this point." Arming them, he warned, "could be very dangerous." .."

USA Today 1/29/99 Freeper Navigator ".The Army fell 20% short of its goal to enlist soldiers in the latest quarter, part of a worsening trend that threatens to leave combat units without the troops they need. From Oct. 1 through the end of 1998, the Army needed to sign up 12,420 men and women but sent only 10,075 to basic training. Unofficial estimates suggest that by fall, the Army could fall 10,000 troops below its congressionally required roster of 480,000. Unless the trend is reversed, Army units could lack enough personnel to do all the tasks needed for combat..."

USA Today 2/17/99 Steve Komarow ".To many Americans, the soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserve are their neighbors. Thousands of these part-time "weekend warriors" meet once a month to train, often at a local armory. Otherwise, they hold down regular jobs until the governor calls them out to restore order in a natural disaster or the president declares a national emergency. So what is Capt. John Case, a computer system manager from Wilmington, Del., doing 4,000 miles from home in Bosnia where there is no war? And after 9 months, what will be the damage to his civilian career? "The Bosnia mission really has to be explained to the employer," says Lt. Col. Kevin McAleese, a reservist who works for a job placement firm in Philadelphia. "It's not Desert Storm," he said, referring to the wildly popular Persian Gulf War. ..If the demands continue, Army officials fear that reservists and Guard members will leave the service in large numbers because they are no longer willing to risk civilian careers for such low-priority operations. "We're just tearing the guts out of people," says Maj. Gen. Clyde Hennies, who retired in January as head of the Alabama Guard. He says some of his units were having troubling filling the rosters...

NY Post 2/17/99 Pat Buchanan ".Only hubris of a high order explains how we believe we can sustain such commitments on a defense budget that is down to 3 percent of gross domestic product, roughly the level before Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, we have been antagonizing old enemies and creating new ones to the point that America is more widely resented than any nation on Earth. . . . Imperial over-stretch, the issuance of war guarantees they could not fulfill, has brought down every great empire of this century -- the British, French, Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian. And in the aftermath of her Cold War victory and emergence as the world's last superpower, the United States walks in the same arrogant way. President Clinton has now committed this nation, without debate or the assent of Congress, to put 4,000 troops into Kosovo. Some 6,000 are in Bosnia, hundreds more in Macedonia. Clinton's heart is in the right place in desiring an end to the carnage, but there is no vital interest in Kosovo to justify a permanent U.S. presence. This is Europe's problem. Let Europe deal with it or live with it. For 50 years, we defended Europe against the Soviet Empire. That empire is now dead; the European Union is as populous and rich as we, and emerging as a global rival. America's job is done. Yet instead of using our Cold War triumph as an occasion to discard Cold War commitments, we are adding to them, as we hack away at the power Ronald Reagan built up to sustain them. Since Reagan went home to California, the Navy has been cut from 565 ships to 346, the active-duty Army from 18 divisions to 10, the Air Force from 36 fighter wings to 20. The services now fail to meet enlistment targets. Yet, as our power contracts, our commitments grow.."

World Net Daily 2/18/99 and Broken Arrow 2/15/99 to 2/19/99 Adm. Tom Moorer and Adm. Mark Hill ".When in need of a boost in the polls or apprehensive about keeping them up, our President likes to resort to the "100,000" ploy. Thus we saw the "100,000" policemen who never really materialized. (Though the lack of fulfillment of this political promise never bothered the ever-mesmerized press.) We have also seen the "100,000 teachers" ploy, equally lacking in substance. Now, as a way of attempting to deal with the dawning realization that he has destroyed the greatest military capability the world has known up till now, and as a way of diverting the public's attention from growing awareness that from the outset of his successful and single minded quest for the presidency he has been financed by, and responsive to, our greatest potential strategic foe rather than the interests of the Nation (see"The Year of the Rat", the Cox Report, and our own testimony on the control of our military capability at the choke point of Panamanian Isthmus in the Helms Committee hearings)and in the face of growing rebellion among the individual service members of the joint chiefs, despite his initially successful splitting and politicization of their ranks, the President presents us with the "100,000 pilots" version of this ploy in his attempt to beef up our deteriorated capabilities with a readily publicizable quick fix.Mr. President, it will not work. We cannot restore the military capability which you have wasted away by simply throwing money at the problem and declaring an increase in the number of pilots and by the reversing of the earlier mistaken adjustments to the retirement pay system, although that certainly is better than the wholesale destruction of military capabilities which up till now has been your policy and which has served the military ambitions of communist China far more than it has secured this Nation. There is far, far more to it than that.."

European Stars And Stripes 2/26/99 Chuck Vinch "...When the Joint Chiefs told House lawmakers Wednesday that many military readiness needs will remain unfunded next year, even after President Clinton's planned $12.6 billion increase, it was like throwing fresh meat in front of hungry lions. Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee, led by their chairman, Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., unleashed a blistering critique of Clinton's defense spending plan, which they say relies heavily on shaky bookkeeping "gimmicks" and won't solve the military's long-term equipment and manpower problems...The problem goes beyond aging weapons systems. Every service except the Marine Corps has recruiting and retention problems - even the Air Force, which historically has been relatively unaffected in that area...."

Charleston Post and Courier 2/28/99 "...The military services are hemorrhaging manpower. They are hampered in their unsuccessful struggle to recruit and retain qualified personnel by a pay scale that is no longer competitive. Congress must act promptly to improve military incomes and recruiting prospects.... Meanwhile, concern about falling manpower strength has prompted the Navy to offer special awards to any sailor who signs up new recruits, according to the Washington Times, in effect deputizing the entire Navy as recruiters. And there is renewed discussion about the possibility of restoring a military draft, as part of a larger scheme of national service...."

BBC Asia Pacific Political via www.inquisit.com 1/10/99 Xinhua news agency ".Washington-based analysts held that Clinton proposed boosting defence expenditure out of the following considerations: First, it is to maintain the United States' hegemony status in the world. After the Cold War, the United States has become the sole military superpower in the world. When resolving international disputes, the United States is prone to use military threats. Moreover, it recently bombed Iraq wantonly and indiscriminately for three days; however, the Iraqi people did not surrender...Second, it is to cushion the pressure from the Republicans in the congress calling for increasing defence costs. In recent years, the defence spending of the United States saw a slight increase, but not much, though. The Republican senators and representatives have been pressuring the Clinton government to boost defence spending by large amounts... Third, it is to resolve the issue of the low morale of the US troops. In the confidential military meeting Clinton held in Washington with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high- ranking commanders in 1998, Clinton held that he was not satisfied with the situation of the second-line troops. Defence Secretary Cohen inspected some domestic military bases and held that the US troops, particularly the second-line troops of the air force and the navy, are having problems such as declining recruitment and increasing retirement.."

Cox Newspapers 2/28/99 Howard Kleinberg "…It is not surprising that Congress last week quickly and overwhelmingly passed a healthy pay and benefits increase for our people in the Armed Forces. Statistics showed that enlistments and re-enlistments in the military were woefully low. It is reported that the branches of our military will need about 200,000 new enlistments this year alone-and the chances of achieving that are not good. But any thought that a slightly larger paycheck is going to get a person to join or re-up is to miss the real point of why so many are declining to remain: Someone could get killed out there. The United States has become unbridled in its use of U.S. troops around the world. After frosty experiences in Bosnia, our young men and women in uniform now face the possibility of Kosovo. Meanwhile, we remain pitiably exposed in the Middle East, exposed to germ warfare, missiles and terrorism. The Iraq situation involves actual combat as well as jeopardy on a daily basis…."

Baltimore Sun 2/27/99 Tom Bowman Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…More than one-quarter of the pilots in a California Air Force Reserve squadron are choosing to quit rather than take the Pentagon's mandatory anthrax vaccine, the latest protest in a service-wide revolt that could threaten the readiness of Guard and Reserve air squadrons. The loss of at least 11 cargo and refueling pilots at Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco follows the resignations last month of eight Air National Guard combat pilots in Connecticut who also refused to take the vaccine. Pilots from other units at Travis and at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey are also considering stepping down…."

San Diego Union-Tribune 2/28/99 AP Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…Displaying unusual candor, the commanders of combat training centers for the Army, Air Force and Marines described poor training conditions, outdated equipment held together by junkyard parts and an underpaid, overworked cadre of service workers who cannot wait to get out and find a better job. "We have a great Army filled with terrific soldiers who are suffering from an inability to train at every level with the battle focus and frequency necessary to develop and sustain its full combat potential," said Col. John Rosenberger, commander of opposing forces at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif…."

UPI Spotlight 3/1/99 "…Defense Secretary William Cohen (Monday) renewed his call for two more rounds of base closings, promising it will save an additional $3 billion a year that can be used to buy new weapons or keep troops in a high state of readiness. The Pentagon estimates that by 2001 the four previous rounds of base closures and realignments will have saved $14.5 billion, then $5.7 billion a year thereafter…"

Philadelphia Inquirer 2/28/99 L H "Bucky" Burruss Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…The cruelest aspect of the changes in the U.S. military under Clinton has to do with children. Here's why: More than 77,000 members of the armed forces are single parents. .....But when it does become necessary - and it will, if history is any teacher - will women be included in the draft? Will there be deferments for single parents, or just more day care (and new orphanages)? …"

AP 3/4/99 "…It's not just the high pay offered by airlines that is coaxing pilots to leave the armed services, a group of disillusioned military pilots told a congressional hearing Thursday. Also to blame, they said, are the military's poor working conditions, constant deployments overseas, broken equipment and routines hard on family life. ``No amount of bonus money would keep me on active duty,'' Marine Capt. James P. Clay told a House Armed Services subcommittee. The retiring Harrier jet pilot based at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina cited ``low morale and low flight hours.'' He said it was ``not uncommon to see days when 50 percent of the aircraft are not ready for flight.'' He said he gets barely 10 hours of flight time per month. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Leon W. Smith, who flies E-2C radar planes from Norfolk, Va., testified he's leaving in April after 14 years. ``The hangar I've spent most of 11 years working out of - it's pathetic: rats, mice, lead paint, asbestos, no air conditioning,'' he said…."

MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/ 3/4/99 Jim Miklaszewski Robert Windrem NBC Freeper A Whitewater Researcher "…EXCERPTS: "...hackers repeatedly tapped into military computers at Kelly Air Force Base...the center for the most sensitive Air Force intelligence...critical to American troops now on patrol over Iraq and in Bosnia....the attack was a sophisticated, coordinated assault through computer networks in Canada, Norway and Thailand....The hackers didn’t receive top secrets but the Pentagon’s No. 2 man...John Hamre, says the United States is essentially engaged in an all-out cyberwar...cyberterrorists, operating from as many as 15 locations worldwide, have launched a series of coordinated attacks on Pentagon computers — as many as 100 per day....The attackers remain unidentified and since anyone with a computer is a potential enemy...the United States military is vulnerable to a sneak attack...."It’s not a matter of if — America has an electronic Pearl Harbor — it’s a matter of when," said Rep. Curtis Weldon, R-Penn....The attack so worried the Pentagon that it called in the FBI…"

Newsmax 3/9/99 Christopher Ruddy "…While America has been preoccupied with Clinton’s sexual shenanigans and Wall Street’s gyrations, extremely ominous developments have been quietly taking place within Russia and Communist China. These ominous developments have occurred during a time when President Bill Clinton has systematically moved to disarm the United States. While it has gone largely unreported, President Clinton has overseen the destruction of nearly two-thirds of America’s nuclear weapons stockpile. He has ordered that America no longer have a "launch on warning" policy and has replaced it with one that says America will retaliate only after it has been attacked. This non-sensical Clinton policy means that American cities and American military targets must first be destroyed before America retaliates. He has proposed taking computer circuitry out of land-based missiles, so that they could not be launched in an emergency. Clinton has proposed making it much more difficult for our submarines to launch their weapons, and even has suggested welding closed the missile hatches on our submarines. Most Americans assume that the Cold War is long over, and that we have nothing to fear from our new "friends," Russia and China. Such a notion is completely contradicted by Russia’s and China’s expansion of their nuclear arsenals at breakneck speed, and deployment of dozens of new weapons systems. Target: America. (Now, I know you may be saying this can’t be true, Russia is in chaos and China is just too weak to take on the United States. Please read on and then form your own opinion.) ….An enormous military build-up, including expansion of their arsenal of strategic nuclear weapons, and introduction of new biological and nuclear weapons with first-strike capability. A huge expansion of their navies (while the US mothballs over half its ships). A new form of brinkmanship, in which Russia and China regularly probe America’s defenses. Huge new civil defense programs, including enormous fallout shelters in Russia (one new underground city is larger than Washington, DC). At the same time, under Clinton, the US military has been cut to the bone, leaving America more vulnerable to foreign attack than at any time since the Cold War…."

European Stars And Stripes 3/9/99 Gary Kunich Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…Some of the top brass in Europe on Monday painted a dismal picture of future military readiness to a panel of the House Armed Services Committee. Unless Congress can devote more money to bolster quality of life, readiness and weapons modernization, the military will suffer, several generals and admirals said during their two-hour session with the U.S. congressmen.....Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, said he wasn’t surprised by what he heard. "We saw this three or four years before," he told the generals. "But your civilian leaders in Washington said, ‘there are no problems.’ Now, all of a sudden, it’s biting us."…"

European Stars And Stripes 3/9/99 Ward Sanderson, Naples Bureau Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…Navy Lt. Rich Dodson told congressmen things are busy aboard his Aegis cruiser, the Philippine Sea. And firepower can be scarce. "Tomahawk stores are low," Dodson said in a slow, low voice. "… It is an enormous concern of mine." He said the ship lacks enough crew, and sailors are overworked........."There’s been almost a sea change from what we’ve heard in Washington," he said. Pentagon brass had told him all was well. Military officials in the capital only recently admitted there were serious problems, Bateman said…"

Aviation Week & Space Technology 3/8/99 "…The U.S. is having difficulties keeping watch on North Korea because it can't generate enough U-2 sorties to meet the demands of intelligence officials. U.S. forces "truly have a shortfall in the continual 'deep look' " mission, Army Gen. John Tilelli, commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, told Congress. The problem is simply that U-2s aren't flying often enough to continuously monitor what's going on more than 100 mi. inside North Korea, an intelligence officer added. Military officials in Korea would like to either add U-2s or increase the number of pilots and maintenance personnel to get more use out of the aircraft in theater. The U.S. Air Force currently has deployed one of its E8C Joint-STARS to Korea to provide additional intelligence on moving targets during the North Korean military's winter training cycle. Watching the movement of 10,000 artillery systems and 2,300 rocket launchers closer to the demilitarized zone are three U.S. Army RC-7 reconnaissance aircraft…."

U.S. House Policy Committee http://policy.house.gov/ 3/8/99 Christopher Cox "…In 1995, a large, bipartisan majority of the House (315-103) supported H. Res. 247, which called on the President to obtain congressional authorization before deploying U.S. troops to Bosnia. Nevertheless,...Clinton proceeded with the large-scale, long-term deployment of tens of thousands of American troops there without congressional authorization or any substantial national debate. Since then, the President has expended $12 billion in Bosnia, but has yet to include Bosnia funds in his budget. As a result, defense resources are being drained from other critical areas....Unlike President Bush, who won explicit approval from Congress before sending troops to Operation Desert Storm,...Clinton has now failed again to seek funding authority from Congress for his plan to deploy thousands of U.S. ground troops to Kosovo for years to come...."

Savannah Morning News 3/12/99 Editorial "…THE CLINTON administration continues to talk about sending ground troops to Kosovo. Before it moves from talking to action and troops start to head overseas, some rational thinking is necessary. Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi is wielding the big stick that's needed to get the administration's attention…. One key condition in the Senate funding debate is a timetable that includes an end to American intervention in the Balkans. The U.S. already has about 7,000 soldiers in Bosnia, troops who should have been home a long time ago. Now, Mr. Clinton is proposing that another 4,000 soldiers be sent as part of a 28,000-person NATO force to help keep the peace in Kosovo, which is part of Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, what is taking place in Kosovo is similar to a civil war. U.S. troops should not be put in such a precarious position. It's particularly precarious because Mr. Clinton is leaving U.S. involvement open-ended -- there's no end-game strategy on how our troops will get out of this quagmire….. "

Associated Press 3/12/99 Robert Burns "…The Air Force's bomber fleet, which includes B-52s that have been flying since before the Vietnam War, will have to last another 40 years, the Air Force's top officials said today. Gen. Michael Ryan, the Air Force chief of staff, said $3.6 billion is being invested over then next 10 years to upgrade the fleet — giving it more advanced communications links and newer precision-guided weapons…. Peters said the intention is to keep 130 of the planes in combat-ready condition. The others are backups. Although the Air Force would like to bring on a new generation of bombers earlier, it cannot afford to move faster. The main priority in aircraft development over the next two decades will be new fighter planes — the F-22 stealth plane and the so-called Joint Strike Fighter, to replace today's F-15s and F-16s…."

Newsmax 3/17/99 Christopher Ruddy "…At the same time that Russia has been building an enormous war machine and making war preparations, the US has been slashing its strategic nuclear arsenal, mothballing ships, and eliminating entire military battle groups. Equally suicidal, Clinton has cut troop levels in the US Army by 40% and the Air Force, Navy and Marines by over 30%. Clinton has also tied up many of America’s best troops in endless and futile foreign quagmires, including "peace-keeping" in Bosnia and the Middle East, humanitarian projects in Africa, and drug interdiction in Latin America. Few troops are left to defend the United States. Clinton also been throwing away America’s limited arsenal of cruise missiles. These missiles were primarily built to deliver strategic nuclear warheads deep into Russia. Russia is believed to be vulnerable to such weapons because they evade radar and fly low to the ground.

ABC News reports that before Operation Desert Fox (our recent, undeclared war on Iraq) the US had just 239 cruise missiles left. In the first few days of Desert Fox Clinton ordered that over 90 of these precious cruise missiles be fired on Iraq against what has proven to be mainly empty warehouses and radar installations that were rebuilt in days. As this article is being written, additional cruise missiles have been launched in continuing confrontations with Iraq. Each missile expended in Iraq is one less that can be used to defend the US -- and at the current rate of expenditure, the US military would have none left in less than 30 days. Why is Bill Clinton squandering these crucial weapons? This question becomes even more serious when one considers that the US is not currently making cruise missiles and has no plans to do so…."

International Herald Tribune 3/23/99 Brian Knowlton Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…''There is a significant strain, even now, even before NATO presumably heads into Kosovo,'' said James Anderson, a national-security analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. ''These pell-mell, frantic deployments are putting a strain on the troops, their families and everyone else.''......But it is unclear, they said, that the military could actually meet the two-war objective, and its present involvements make that even more uncertain. The Kosovo and Gulf operations, Mr. Anderson said, ''undermine our stated ability to prosecute midlevel regional conflicts.'' ''We would be hard pressed today to mount an operation on the size of Desert Storm _- that would be very difficult - yet we're claiming we can do two nearly simultaneous wars. That's bluffing….''

Congressional Quarterly Weekly 3/27/99 Pat Towell Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…NATO's airstrikes against Serbia, coming on the heels of the air war over Iraq, have put an added burden on U.S. armed forces at a time when some military and congressional leaders already worry that they are stretched too thin. ...But there still are signs of strain. Missing from the air and sea armada in the Adriatic, for instance, is a U.S. aircraft carrier. The USS Enterprise is on duty in the region but is cruising the Persian Gulf, where it was more urgently needed. Its replacement, the Theodore Roosevelt, has just left Norfolk, Va., and may only pass through the Mediterranean on its way to the Gulf. ...The barrage of cruise missiles that opened the campaign against Serbia further depletes the U.S. armory at a time when cruise missiles are out of production and new versions of the ship-borne Tomahawk and air-launched JASSM will not be available for another two years…."

Softwar 3/28/99 Charles Smith "…USAF warplanners are worried that they will soon run out of Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM). The remaining inventory of the Boeing air launched missile is reported to be under 200 after the firing of 40 to 50 ALCMs during NATO strikes inside Serbia. Boeing no longer manufactures the ALCM. The low ALCM inventory is one reason being circulated for the the early combat deployment of the stealth bombers into heavily defended Serbian airspace. The downing of a F-117A Nighthawk by Serbian air defenses clearly shows that manned aircraft are vulnerable. Robot missiles such as the Boeing ALCM are used in areas where manned fighters would be exposed to dangerous air defenses. Boeing ALCMs are currently launched by the aging B-52 bombers, flying safely outside of enemy airspace….. The F-117A stealth bomber carries special 2,000 pound bombs, designed to knock out installations buried in deep rock tunnels such as the Serbian military command and control network. The F-117A was thought to be invisible to even the most advanced Serbian air defense systems such as the SA-10 "Grumble" surface to air missile (SAM) or the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter. The other stealth bomber, the USAF B-2, has been plagued by extra-ordinary costs, a single base and by rain clouds that frequently shroud Yugoslavia. The limited number of the billion dollar planes, and the bad eastern european weather has forced planners to use no more than handful of big bombers per day. The long 14 hour flight time from the single U.S. airbase also forces B-2 planners to limit attacks to fixed targets on a scheduled basis. In contrast, NATO stealth forces in theatre provide direct fire on very short notice. F-117A jets from nearby NATO bases in Italy are minutes from their targets in Yugoslavia. The NATO reliance on the F-117A pits these tactical aircraft against the teeth of Serbian Army mobile air defenses such as the SA-6 "Gainful" and the SA-10 "Grumble."…. Clinton's policy of bombing with high-tech weapons is rapidly using up U.S. inventories. The shortages, according to DOD officials, can be laid directly to President Clinton's Defense budget shortfalls for the hard pressed U.S. military. According to Defense planners, the most critical shortfall is in air launched cruise missiles. In late 1998, Boeing was contracted by the USAF to convert the final remaining 130 nuclear tipped AGM-86B missiles into conventional "Bunker Buster" ALCMs with 2,000 pound warheads. After the last AGM-86 is converted no further missiles will be available. The USAF has no missile that can replace the long range ALCM. The original USAF replacement for the ALCM, the JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile), does not have the range nor the heavy one ton payload of the AGM-86B "Bunker Buster" missile. The stealthy JASSM is currently being manufactured by Lockheed/Martin and is reported to have only a 1,000 pound warhead and a range of 300 miles….. The Air Force has spent over $3.4 billion and a decade developing the JASSM stealth cruise missile. Not a single JASSM has been manufactured for operational production. The requirement for a new, long range, version could delay the JASSM project. USAF and Lockheed/Martin officials are anxious to complete the stealth missile before taking on any modifications or a new missile design……. The Clinton years in the Oval office have been spent weakening U.S. armed forces. Our weakness, in turn, has given rise to a more unstable world. Instead of maintaining or even building on the Reagan 1980s weapons budgets, so long derided by liberals, Clinton has expended our critical defense stockpiles in futile and useless attempts to sway dictators…."

AP 3/30/99 Freeper thewildthing "…The Pentagon is scrambling to avoid a shortage of cruise missiles, increasingly the weapon of choice in attacking heavily defended targets in places like Iraq and Yugoslavia. Before the latest NATO strikes over Kosovo and Serbia, the Air Force was down to 150 cruise missiles carrying conventional warheads. At least 30 have been launched since then. The Navy has more than 2,000 but is using them up at a faster rate. No cruise missile production line is in operation…."

WorldNetDaiy 3/29/99 Geoff Metcalf "…From 1946 to 1991 the United States of America deployed military troops to eight foreign campaigns. From 1992 to the present (The Clinton reign), the United States of America has deployed military troops to 33 foreign places. The Internet tends to recycle significant data as the network of telling 10 people to tell 10 people to tell 10 people expands. Recently I received a gaggle of messages listing data I had reported in a September 1998 WorldNetDaily column. *709,000 regular (active duty) service personnel *293,000 reserve troops *Eight standing army divisions *20 air force and navy air wings with *2,000 combat aircraft *232 strategic bombers *13 strategic ballistic missile submarines with *3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles *500 ICBMs with 1,950 warheads *Four aircraft carriers *121 surface combat ships and submarines, plus all the support bases, shipyards and logistical assets needed to sustain such a naval force. All of the above are GONE ... history ... they have been attrited by the Bill Clinton "Reduction in Force" from the military of the United States of America. A foreign enemy did not destroy those significant assets. They were not combat losses. Those military assets have been eliminated by civilian political policy wonks. I am also attempting to determine how many Tomahawk Cruise Missiles (at about one million dollars a copy) have been expended. ... AND how much of that ordnance has been (or will be) replaced? Have the mainstream media mandarins alerted you to our military atrophy? Have you seen it on ABC, NBC, CBS or the Clinton News Network (CNN)? The Clinton department of propaganda has succeeded (kinda) in suppressing a significant protest, which has gone virtually unreported. Some of us have been complaining about the "perfumed princes" (Colonel Hackworth's phrase) in the Pentagon. The complaint has been "... why don't you military types DO or SAY something about the serial absurdities of the administration's foreign policy?" Well, in fairness, we know the military can't itch and moan about their civilian leaders. However, they can, and have done something. According to what I consider reliable sources, in 1997 24 -- count 'em, twenty-four -- generals retired early. I am still in the processing of confirming names, dates and replacements (if any). On July 7, 1997, in what is being called a mass protest over the conditions in the military (primarily because of administration policy) 24 generals quit. They reportedly had fought a losing battle to correct, modify, or mitigate the politically correct, operational tempo, and repeated "hey you" deployments. They tried to address the problems with readiness (or lack of) and pay. They tried, and they failed to compel the administration to fix what is wrong. Then, in a final act of courage and commitment (two concepts alien to this administration), they ALL went to see Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, and RESIGNED. Twenty-four general officers representing 600 years of combined military experience tendered their resignations. THAT is a big deal. ... So why haven't we heard about it? …"

Aviation Week & Space Technology 3/29/99 Loren Thompson Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…EXCERPTS "But for those who know a little about aircraft, the Aerospace Power Demonstration is becoming a striking display of something less positive: the graying of American air power. The "procurement holiday" that followed the end of the Cold War has produced a hangover in the form of an increasingly aged and maintenance-intensive air fleet. Consider what the audience saw at last year's show. The first plane that flew over was a KC-135 tanker, basically a military version of Boeing's old 707 jetliner. The Air Force has more than 500 KC-135s in service, but their average age is 38 years. It has plans to keep some of them flying until they're twice that age."…"

Navy Times 3/29/99 Andrea Stone Freeper Rodger Schultz "...Defense Department statistics obtained by USA Today show that 43 percent of white women fail to finish their first enlistment because of physical problems, pregnancy, failure to adapt to the military or other reasons...."

Reuters 4/1/99 "...The U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday it may need to buy more jet fuel if NATO bombing missions against Yugoslavian forces continue. Officials said that European fuel stocks have depleted over the past two years to cut costs, and no supplemental inventory has been purchased following the recent military build-ups in the Balkans and the Persian Gulf. Still, officials said, inventories are relatively healthy and immediate restocking isn't neccessary. ``Right now there's no need to purchase more fuel because we haven't run out of contract coverage,'' said a purchaser with the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), who asked not to be named. ``But if the campaign continues on long enough, we may have to buy more.''

NATO officials expanded the bombing campaign in Yugoslavia Wednesday, targeting a broader range of sites in an attempt to undermine Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic's attacks on ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo. ..."

Air Force Times 4/3/99 John Pulley "..."At this junction, we don't have the facilities" to produce the new officers needed by the Air Force, said Lt. Col. Bill Wright, the commander of the training school. "The dorms we're living in now are Korean War vintage" replete with leaky pipes and a "constant locker room ambiance," he said. Other consequences and indicators of the production push are less obvious than the bustling construction sites: * The Officer Training School, formerly a 131/2-week course, was trimmed to 12 weeks earlier this year. "By shaving the course by one-and-a-half weeks, we've got production up to close to one thousand" officers in 1999, said Lt. Col. Robert Angwin, the commander of the 24th Basic Officer Training Squadron at Maxwell. * The 145 second lieutenants who graduated from Officer Training School in February were the largest class in almost four years. In 1998, the average class graduated 80 officers. * As the pressure to produce more officers increases, the percentage of officer trainees who wash out of the program has declined. The program's attrition rate, which has been as high as 13 percent, is now at about 9 percent. That's a 30 percent reduction in the wash-out rate....."

WorldMagazine 4/10/99 Mindy Belz Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Air strike diplomacy tries to be surgical, but-with American soldiers captured, U.S.-Russia relations on ice, and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo on the run-the NATO war on Yugoslavia is anything but antiseptic. .....From discussions with Pentagon officials, Mr. Moore says there is "real concern" about a lengthy NATO operation. Top officers see a frayed military that is losing its edge because of multiple commitments to peacekeeping missions and on-again, off-again crises. Hardware, too, is at a premium. By last weekend, NATO officials were strategizing around a completely depleted U.S. inventory of cruise missiles...."

Chattanooga Free Press 4/06/99 Editorial Freeper newsman "… Many Americans are amazed to find that the United States has engaged in a very brief attack on limited targets in a relatively small engagement and yet is running short of cruise missiles. Few people had realized our military power was so limited. Official policy long has called for the United States to have sufficient forces to fight two Persian Gulf-size wars on opposite sides of the globe at the same time, and win quickly. Many realized we might have only half that capability. But to find some vital arms running short after just a few days of attacks on Yugoslavia is shocking…."

Aviation Week & Space Technology 4/5/99 William B. Scott/Colorado Springs and David A. Fulghum/Washington Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…The loss of an F-117 Nighthawk fighter-bomber in Kosovo has raised questions about the impact of first-generation stealth technology being compromised, and why the wreckage was not immediately destroyed by follow-on air strikes. It also has U.S. defense officials saying the Kosovo conflict has revealed tough problems that include a clumsy decision-making process within NATO. Moreover, the basic slowness in reaching agreements is exacerbated by poor or nonexistent communications, the result of insufficient or misdirected defense spending over the last decade, they say. …"

Washington Post 4/7/99 Bradley Graham "…Lt. Col. Jim Herring, who manages the Air Force's dwindling stockpile of air-launched cruise missiles, knew the Pentagon was cutting things close by capping the inventory at 250 last year. But even he hadn't figured on seeing the reserves fall below 100 as the $2 million missiles were fired off by the dozens in the current airstrikes against Yugoslavia and last December's pounding of Iraq. "We already knew we were in a tight spot," Herring said yesterday. "But I don't know if anyone had anticipated this number of contingencies." ….While senior military officers said the strains are not yet critical, they warned privately that enlarging the operation further could significantly disrupt U.S. military activities elsewhere. Among the main concerns is ensuring enough aircrews for transport and air refueling flights. The refueling operations, in particular, are heavily dependent on reservists, who are responsible for piloting about 55 percent of the KC-135 tanker fleet. Until now, the Pentagon has been relying on volunteers to meet the demand. But if the demand rises, military officials said yesterday that President Clinton may have to issue orders calling up some reserve units. "We're a little ways away from that point, but we're watching it closely," one general said…."

Christian Science Monitor 4/7/99 James Thurman Freeper Stand Watch Listen "…Plenty of ordnance, such as laser-guided bombs and "dumb" bombs, is in the arsenal. But the most-effective weapons - cruise missiles and smart-bomb kits - are on back order. Moreover, warplanes and naval ships have been diverted from other operations to join the war in Yugoslavia. "[The US military] is definitely being stretched thin. It's putting pressure on planners to determine where they are going to put their aircraft," says a Pentagon source. "[Kosovo] has created a mess the Pentagon is not prepared for in terms of aircraft availability." Half a dozen of the Navy's EA-6B Prowlers, for example, have been removed from Iraqi operations to fly missions in Serbia…."

WorldNetDaily 4/15/99 Jon Dougherty "...Sources have confirmed that because of a major shift in available military resources to bolster NATO's war effort in Yugoslavia, the Pentagon has pulled the last available aircraft carrier out of Asia and sent it to the Mediterranean.... Among other directives, Cohen ordered the Kitty Hawk Battle Group, based in Yokosuka, Japan -- to deploy to the Persian Gulf to relieve the USS Enterprise, ostensibly because the latter carrier is scheduled to return to the United States in May for regularly scheduled maintenance. A Defense Department spokesman who identified himself as LCDR Sutherland confirmed that the USS Kitty Hawk has been ordered to take up station in support of U.S. air operations over Iraq, but declined to say when the carrier battle group would arrive.....Gary Hoitsma, press spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., told WorldNetDaily, "This is one of our huge concerns about this whole operation (Yugoslavia)," Hoitsma said. "It's not just this incident, but so many other things like it that are happening in this administration." ....Sue Hensley, an aide to Sen. Tim Hutchison, R-Ariz., echoed that sentiment. Hoitsma said Sen. Inhofe was most worried about overall dwindling of military resources and the country's ability to meet its obligations in all commitments -- those which are long standing and those recently made by President Clinton. Military force reduction, coupled with increased responsibilities, "has been an area of our concern for the past six years," he added. Hoitsma commented that should trouble arise between China or North Korea while Pacific theater forces are being reduced, "there would have to be some real quick shifting of resources" from other, less pressing, areas of the world where American forces reside. And neither he, nor a number of other congressmen and senators, is convinced the United States has the ability. "You've got aircraft being taken out of the no-fly zone in Iraq being moved from Turkey over to Italy, for example," Hoitsma said. "You've also got airlift stretched to capacity, the need to call up reserves, and you've got pilots leaving the Navy and the Air Force in droves -- regardless of the current situation in Yugoslavia -- because of other concerns about deployments, lack of mission, and all the rest." Hoitsma said the Clinton administration's prosecution of the war in Kosovo is exacerbating the preexisting military shortages...."

Inside the Pentagon 4/15/99 Elaine Grossman Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...The growing requests from NATO's top military commander, Gen. Wesley Clark, for additional firepower to use in the war against Yugoslavia have prompted increasing anxiety on the part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to officials familiar with their thinking. At an April 1 meeting in their secure Pentagon "tank," the services' top military leaders reportedly expressed concern that Clark's requirements for a large number of fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, missiles and other equipment could mean the military would run high risks in other hot spots around the world..."

Electronic Telegraph 4/8/99 Ben Fenton Freeper gil "…AMERICA's armed forces are showing the strain of defence spending cuts following the end of the Cold War, experts said yesterday. There have been signs that the United States Air Force is running out of cruise missiles and the US Navy will very soon have to start using second-rate ship-launched missiles. On Tuesday, commentators expressed alarm when the Pentagon suggested that it would have to finish flying in tents for refugees before it could airlift Apache helicopters into combat positions…."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Bill Gertz Rowan Scarborough Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS "It was once a large, robust force -- 18 active divisions of well-equipped, well-trained soldiers with plenty of time to hone war-fighting skills and face down the Soviet Union. Ten years later, the Army has shrunk to 10 divisions, well below the "base force" that, generals warned in the early 1990s, should never be violated. President Clinton did violate the floor with his own strategy, known as the "bottom up review" in 1993. Now, the General Accounting Office is circulating a restricted briefing paper to some members of Congress that shows just bow stretched those 10 divisions are. This is perhaps one reason the Clinton administration is reluctant to put a large land force in Kosovo."..."

The Arizona Republic 4/9/99 Jennifer Barrett Freeper donna "...An inspection of jets at Luke Air Force Base has revealed cracks in at least 17 engines, a discovery that may point to the cause of a recent Arizona crash that led to the grounding of 400 F-16s nationwide...."

Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/ 4/9/99 Bob Kemper Freeper A Whitewater Researcher "…EXCERPTS: "With the bombing of Yugoslavia entering its third week and the Clinton administration pledging to sustain airstrikes, the Air Force is running so low on its best cruise missiles that it no longer has enough to fill five bombers....B-52 bombers capable of carrying 20 cruise missiles are now taking off for Yugoslavia with fewer than 10 each to help conserve an arsenal that includes fewer than 100 of the satellite-guided bombs. More than 50 of the missiles were used in just the first two weeks of the campaign.... Meanwhile, the Navy has begun to divert planes and ships from other flash points around the globe to the Adriatic Sea, where a dozen U.S. ships already are taking part in the airstrikes against the forces and facilities of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic....Six EA-6B Prowlers, radar-jamming planes considered critical to enforcement of a so-called no-fly zone in northern Iraq, have been moved to the Balkans...."

WorldNetDaily.com 4/10/99 Jon Dougherty "…An expert in foreign policy affairs said that the United States is at risk of being overpowered by other nations -- or coalition of nations -- "in five to ten years" if current military policies and strategies don't change. Al Santoli, a senior foreign policy analyst for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA, author, and Vietnam combat veteran, told WorldNetDaily that unless Congress and the Clinton administration revamp military strategies and funding, the U.S. could be at risk of attack by weapons of mass destruction from countries who are building -- rather than cutting forces -- in less than half a decade. Unlike emerging powers, he said, the U.S. has adopted a policy of modest or no growth in military expenditures. But the Clinton administration continues to add to missions to U.S. forces, further diminishing scarce resources while neglecting to replace them. That not only reflects bad planning, he said, but it puts American forces at risk almost everywhere. In one startling revelation, Santoli said, "U.S. forces are already so depleted, the aircraft carrier USS Kittyhawk is being sent from the Pacific theater" to bolster U.S. operations elsewhere, leaving "no carrier presence in the Pacific at all." That can't be comforting for Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese governments, who rely principally on the U.S. for security. The navy currently deploys only about 11 operational aircraft carriers, down from 14 just three years ago, but that is still the largest carrier force in the world….. "Right now, countries like Russia, Syria, China, Iran, and North Korea have been vastly increasing their military expenditures and capabilities solely to challenge American hegemony" in Asia and the Middle East. Santoli, who is also the editor of China Reform Monitor, a publication of the American Foreign Policy Council, said China, for example, "has increased their military budget in the double digits each of the past eleven years," while the Bush and Clinton administrations have steadily cut U.S. military spending. As it stands, he said, "U.S. forces are having to cannibalize airplanes to keep other airplanes flying, we're running out of high-tech weaponry (cruise missiles), and we're having manpower problems" in virtually all services. At the same time, he pointed out, "the administration continues to deploy forces in places like Bosnia and, eventually, Kosovo, for years on end, "which further depletes already dwindling resources. Meanwhile, Russia and China -- who have forged military and economic alliances over the past several months -- continue to upgrade their military capabilities. While it may be thought that these nations are incapable of "challenging the U.S. directly right now," Santoli sees a not-too-distant future when the tide will turn against what is now a distinct U.S. military advantage….Santoli sees threats to U.S. security in the following areas: Asia, from North Korea and China, which also threaten allies South Korea and Japan The Middle East, from a re-arming Syrian, Iran, and -- to a lesser extent -- Iraq "I don't see 'World War III' developing right now, but if these trends continue ... our forces will deteriorate further" in terms of resources, material, and funding. He said his biggest fear comes "ten, perhaps just five years down the road," when Russian and Chinese armies will be equipped with modern weapons of mass destruction, "and we will have no defense against them." …"

Businessweek 4/19/99 Stan Crock "… The Air Force may soon run out of its weapon of choice--air-launched cruise missiles. It will take a year, and some $1.5 million apiece, to convert its existing cruise missiles from nuclear to conventional warheads. If NATO sends ground forces to Kosovo while the refugee crisis continues, the U.S. may not have enough airlift capacity for both missions. And a spare-parts shortage keeps 25% of fighters on the ground…… "

New York Times 4/10/99 Steven Myers "…Four days after NATO approved the deployment of two dozen American Apache helicopter gunships to attack Yugoslav tanks, frustrated NATO and Pentagon officials now estimate that it could take a month before the helicopters are available to fly into Kosovo. U.S. C-17 cargo planes carrying the first loads of equipment and supplies to support the Apaches began arriving in Albania's capital, Tirana, over the last two days. But officials said the full deployment had moved sluggishly, and they cited bad weather, slow-moving bureaucracy and an air-traffic bottleneck over Albania because of the airlift of food and relief supplies…."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 4/12/99 Bill Gertz "...A classified Pentagon intelligence report warns that U.S. and NATO pilots flying over Serbia face the threat of laser illumination from range-finders deployed with Serbian tanks, artillery or special forces. The main danger is that Serbian forces could import blinding laser weapons or sow fear among NATO pilots and aircrews through the use of lasers against aircraft, according to the report by the Army's National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) and obtained by The Washington Times.....The report, "Laser Threat to Air Operations in Serbia and Kosovo," was produced by the intelligence center for the U.S. Air Force, Europe, which is responsible for the scores of U.S. pilots who so far have flown thousands of missions over the Balkans since the bombing campaign began March 24. It concludes that the use of lasers by Serbian forces against NATO aircraft is a potential threat but one considered to be minimal. "The intent would be to distract a flight crew from its mission," the report said. "There is no evidence to suggest that any of the military factions have a dedicated laser weapon designed to target air platforms." According to the report, there has been an "influx of foreign military weapons into the Balkans" since the conflict began.....However, a Pentagon intelligence official said the movement of a Russian intelligence-gathering ship to the Adriatic Sea has increased the danger of intentional laser use against U.S. and NATO pilots flying from bases in Italy over the sea en route to daily bombing targets in the Balkans..."

Air Force Times 3/29/99 Bryant Jordan "…The two HH-60 Pave Hawks from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., were still burning when would-be rescuers arrived at the scene just after 2 a.m. Sept. 4, more than four hours after the helicopters had collided and crashed. The wreckage was scattered over a 1,200-square-foot swath of desert. The 12 crewmen were dead….. Now, a different kind of heat is being generated by an exhaustive five-volume report on the disaster that Air Force officials released March 15. Pilot error is the report's conclusion, but it also makes clear there is plenty of blame to go around -- and that the accident had been at least five years in the making. The overwhelming contributing factors leading up to the disaster, wrote lead investigator Col. Denver Pletcher, was "a high ops/pers tempo coupled with leadership problems, internal and external training deficiencies, broken squadron processes, low aircrew experience level, and midlevel supervisory breakdown." In Pletcher's opinion, "this squadron was on a path to disaster." Like so many other units throughout the Air Force, the 66th was working lean. As a combat search-and-rescue squadron it was a "low density/high demand" outfit, meaning its assets were limited and its capabilities specialized, but demand for its services was high…."

Air Force Times 3/29/99 Jennifer Palmer "…The problems at the 66th Rescue Squadron were among the most serious in the Air Force, but the unit was by no means the only one in Air Combat Command severely stressed by trying to do so much. Command officials have been tracking each of its squadrons to see which are most stressed, said Gen. Richard Hawley, who runs Air Combat Command. As of February, the command had one unit considered "red hot," or severely stressed, he said. That was the 38th and 343rd reconnaissance squadrons at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. The squadrons count as one unit in the command's comparison system because they both fly the RC-135 Rivet Joint. The primary reason for the "red hot" categorization is their deployment schedule, which exceeds the goal of no more than 120 days per airman per year…..Eleven units are considered "hot," stressed to the point where command officials are concerned. One is the 66th Rescue Squadron, which remains seriously stressed in spite of changes put into place before and after the September 1998 crash. The 71st and 41st rescue squadrons at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., also made the list…."

U.S. News & World Report 4/19/99 Richard Newman Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Since the early 1990s, the Pentagon has figured it needs enough forces and firepower to be able to fight two wars simultaneously-such as one in Korea and another in Iraq. But Gen. Wesley Clark feels that the United States may need even more military might. Last month in Washington, Clark, who is running the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia, quietly suggested to members of Congress that someday the United States might find itself fighting not two regional wars but three. The third war that Clark foresaw? An eruption of violence in the Balkans...."

Armed Forces Journal International 4/99 Tracy Ralphs Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS ""The Navy admits that it currently has no credible surface fire capabilities to support forced-entry from the sea and inland operations by Marine Corps and Army forces." This critical deficiency is exacerbated by the current focus of the Navy and Marine Corps on operations in littoral (coastal) regions and on the development of amphibious assault capabilities from over the horizon. During the past 10 years, US amphibious forces have been involved in 50 crises around the world. With about 70 percent of the world's population now living within 50 miles of a coastline, littoral warfare capabilities will remain critical in the 21st cent ury, and Navy and Marine forces will continue to play a major role in responding to overseas crises affecting US security interests. "..."

Center for Security Policy's Roundtable discussion ANA Hotel DC 7/15/97 "...Dr. Barker cited a study conducted by the Department of Energy during the Reagan Administration which found that in order to prepare for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the United States would need to conduct 10 nuclear tests per year for 10 years. These tests would have provided scientists with a high-quality and comprehensive data base necessary to evaluate the accuracy of the predictions made with the new diagnostic equipment about the safety and reliability of the future stockpile. Regrettably, the fact that the SSMP will be conducted without the benefit of such data only adds to the uncertainty about the adequacy of this program to ensure the effectiveness and credibility of the American nuclear force down the road..... Anxiety about the U.S. nuclear arsenal's status in the near- to medium-term is further exacerbated by the hemorrhagic departure from the DoE weapons complex of many of the skilled scientists and engineers with first-hand experience of the execution, validation and, where necessary, correction of nuclear weapons designs. In the not-too-distant-future, the American nuclear weapons complex will lose the last of its employees who have designed and conducted an actual nuclear test, who were responsible for fabricating and proving nuclear weapons now in the inventory or who have been responsible for demonstrating that fixes in defective designs have been effected via an underground explosion. .... "

Center for Security Policy's Roundtable discussion ANA Hotel DC 7/15/97 "...Tritium is a radioactive gas critical to the functioning of U.S. nuclear weapons, in which it has been used to enhance the efficiency of a given design by permitting its yield to be maximized while reducing its size and weight. Since tritium decays at the rate of 5.5% a year, the gas in American weapons must be replenished periodically. As one participant observed, "If a weapon does not have the right amount of tritium in it, its yield is not megatons or hundreds of kilotons or tens of kilotons, it's effectively zero." Given that reality, it is astounding that the United States has not produced tritium for more than a decade -- and currently lacks the ability to manufacture it. In order to meet the tritium needs of its nuclear arsenal, the U.S. has been obliged to cannibalize the gas in existing weapons retired either unilaterally or pursuant to arms reduction agreements. Several participants warned, however, that the period in which such a work-around solution could be relied upon is coming to an end. Existing stocks of tritium are steadily degrading and must be replaced. The Department of Energy has identified two approaches to providing future supplies of tritium -- by using a linear accelerator, which has never before been attempted and relies on experimental technology; or by using a commercial reactor, an approach that would face opposition from those seeking to maintain the separation between military and civilian nuclear technology. Either way, the United States remains years away from providing a reliable domestic supply of tritium. Unless and until such a source of supply is achieved, the American nuclear force will face the prospect of steady, and ultimately catastrophic, degradation. The need for DoE quickly to demonstrate the feasibility of and select an approach to meeting the Nation's yawning tritium requirement was broadly supported by Roundtable participants...... "

Center for Security Policy's Roundtable discussion ANA Hotel DC 7/15/97 "...In the rapid reduction of the American nuclear industrial base following the end of the Cold War, the United States also allowed the elimination of its ability to produce new primaries for nuclear weapons -- the devices used to trigger thermonuclear explosions -- in quantity. Today, Los Alamos National Laboratory is the only facility capable of producing these critical components, and only in small quantities, at that. The U.S. also lacks the ability to produce secondaries, the part of nuclear weapons that, when triggered by primaries, produces the bulk of the nuclear yield. Such deficiencies pose not only immense obstacles to a rapid nuclear rearmament should it be necessary to do so. They also make problematic the task of remanufacturing existing weapons -- a task that many participants noted will be required in due course. Dr. Schlesinger put it starkly: "At this time, we have no production complex." .....The Roundtable also highlighted worries about the government's declining ability to safeguard the facilities and materials of the Department of Energy weapons complex. One participant suggested that this shortfall was a symptom of the larger problems afflicting the Department's infrastructure. The unfortunate reality is that there is more nuclear weapons-grade material in the system than at the height of the Cold War (a function of both sizeable returns of special nuclear material by the Department of Defense and the quantities of such material extracted from the former Soviet Union). The budgets for protecting such materials and the sites that house them, however, have been reduced by more than 40 percent. .... "The political environment is such that one is not allowed to talk about these problems, one is not allowed to talk about the...cumulative effects of the budget shortfalls; one is not allowed to talk about the safety problems because...the consequences would be politically problematic, to say nothing of fiscally difficult...." ...."

STRATFOR's Global Intelligence Update 1830 GMT, 990416 Freeper Brian Mosely "...There are 12 active carriers in the U.S. Navy. As of April 12, they were deployed as follows: USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Currently attached to U.S. 5th Fleet in the Persian Gulf enforcing Operation Southern Watch USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN 71) Currently attached to U.S. 6th Fleet in the Adriatic Sea involved in Operation Allied Force USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Currently attached to U.S. 7th Fleet in the southern Pacific heading back to homeport. USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Currently in the Indian Ocean heading to the Persian Gulf. USS Constellation (CV 64) is listed as underway. Its homeport is San Diego, California USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) is listed as underway. Its homeport is San Diego, California USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is listed as underway. Its homeport is Mayport, Florida. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN69)- passing through Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. It is due back in Norfolk, Virgina on December 10. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72) Its last known location was near Everret, Washington providing deck trials for the new F/18 Super Hornet. USS Harry S. Truman (CVN75) It's last known location is listed off the Maryland coast. USS George Washington (CVN73)Currently still in port at Norfolk, Virginia after completing flight deck certification USS Nimitz (CVN68) Currently at Newport News Shipbuilding for a 33-month refueling and upgrade..."

The Orlando Sentinel Online 4/18/99 Charley Reese "... Americans, exposed to hours of color images of refugees, now feel great compassion for the Albanians who have fled or been driven out of Kosovo. Indeed you would have to have a lead sinker for a heart not to feel compassion and sadness. But we have to remember that our emotions are being manipulated. There are, at this moment, several millions of refugees around the world, many of whom have rotted in squalid camps for decades. Yet, they don't exist in our consciousness, because no corporation chooses to focus the cameras on them and regale us day after day with the stories of their horrors. So sleazy politicians are able to get away with the big lie: This war is necessary because of the humanitarian disaster; because, they say, the president of a small country of 10 million people is a fiend. Listen, China invaded Tibet and has destroyed virtually 80 percent of its population as well as its culture and historical artifacts. Why did not, why has not, the United States responded to that humanitarian catastrophe with an ultimatum and bombs on Beijing? Simple: China is a nation of more than a billion people, with nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The United States' leaders are both cynical and cowardly. They love to bully little countries. They are scared of crossing any country with the means to fight back. They have become that most disgusting of human beings -- the armchair warrior, the barstool blowhard ever eager for someone else to fight someone....."I support the troops," people now love to say. Oh, yeah? Did they support those troops when Congress reneged on its promises to them? Did they support those troops when the government began to degrade and demoralize them? Just what do they mean by support other than that they are willing to break wind with their mouths in the safety of their home or office. Bombing and attacking virtually de-fenseless, small countries (we've bombed four different sovereign states in the past 10 months) does nothing but earn Americans the enmity of most of the world's people. This reckless and illegal behavior by a group of corrupt and incompetent American politicians will come back and bite us one day...."

http://www.insidedefense.com/ 4/19/99 "…U.S. fighters flying over the Balkans may be putting American support forces on the ground at a greater risk of fratricide due to problems with the aircraft's radar warning displays, service sources told Inside the Army last week. The aircraft warning systems inaccurately display two U.S. military radar systems -- the TPQ-36 Firefinder and MPQ-64 Sentinel -- as either unknown or threat systems, Army sources said. The risk is that a U.S. pilot may see either a Firefinder or a Sentinel and mistakenly believe evasive action is required, prompting them to attempt to destroy the radars, which are being manned by U.S. military personnel, a service source said….A spokesman for Raytheon, the prime contractor for the two radar systems, said the company had not been informed about the potential problem…."

AP 4/20/99 LAURA MYERS Freeper Earl B. "...Because of dual defense needs in Kosovo and Iraq, no aircraft carrier is plying the Pacific. The gap in carrier coverage for the Pacific could last until the fall... A senior defense official, describing the search for resources, said the U.S. military's "elasticity" is reduced since the Cold War when the Navy had 600 ships, for example, compared with 324 today. Leaving the Pacific unguarded by a carrier for long could send the wrong signal to North Korea, China or Indonesia, now experiencing violence ahead of elections, a defense official acknowledged...."

AP 4/20/99 ANNE GEARAN Freeper Earl B. "...The wreckage of a U.S. stealth jet fighter that crashed on a NATO bombing mission over Yugoslavia won't help other countries build their own radar-evading planes, the Pentagon said Tuesday. ``We've put a lot of distance between (that plane) and the planes we're building now,'' Carlson said. ``That material, should it have gone to Russian hands ..., we think that loss is minimal.'' The American F-117A jet went down March 27, four days into the bombing campaign against Serb-led Yugoslavia. The pilot, who ejected, was rescued by U.S. forces...."

San Diego Union-Tribune 4/18/99 Robert Caldwell Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS "How much safer the world looked just a few months ago. No war in Yugoslavia. No war in Iraq. The Clinton-era Pentagon trundling along on illusions and denial, just like its commander in chief. As defense spending fell year after year during the 1990s, the White House seemed oblivious to the national security implications. Even normally pro-defense Republicans in Congress were content to collect the post-Cold War peace dividend while watching the armed forces and defense spending shrink by 40 percent. .....Pentagon wags were driven to parody. A budget-time plea drafted last year in the form of an apocryphal personals ad made the Defense Department's e-mail rounds: ... "Lonely superpower seeks adversary. Tin horn dictator-type preferred. Rabidly anti-American rhetoric a plus. Discretion assured. Reply urgently to Pentagon, U.S.A." Nobody is laughing now. "...."

Pacific Stars And Stripes 4/22/99 AP Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS 'The U.S. military, stretched thin following a post-Cold War downsizing, is feeling the pinch. Because of dual defense needs in Kosovo and Iraq, no aircraft carrier is plying the Pacific. Instead, Air Force planes there have gone on alert for any trouble. The gap in carrier coverage the Pacific could last until the fall, when the USS Constellation arrive, defense officials said. The USS Kitty Hawk, based out of Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, arrived in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday to free up the USS Theodore Roosevelt to join the NATO airstrikes on Yugoslavia. The Roosevelt, based out of Norfolk, Va., arrived in the Adriatic Sea on April 5." ..."

Kansas City Star 4/18/99 E. Thomas McClanahan Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS "Today, America's military superiority is unparalleled. In technology and training, our forces are well ahead of any potential adversary - a position they are expected to hold for a decade or more. But after that, the concerns begin to multiply. The weapons deployed in the Gulf were based on research and testing that occurred many years before. Today, a growing number of military analysts are worried that the Clinton administration may be doing too little to ensure America's lead is maintained. The issue involves more than aggregate amounts of spending for research and development. " ..."

Newsday 4/21/99 AP Alan Fram "...Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today that a Serbian widening of the Balkans conflict into pro-Western Montenegro would have serious consequences. ``On Montenegro, we are very concerned about what is going on there and have been in very close tough with President (Milo) Djukanovic, who seeks to maintain a degree of self-government there,'' Albright told the House International Relations Committee. There are increasing reports that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's forces are trying to evict from Montenegro many ethnic Albanians who had been forced to flee from Kosovo. Kosovo is a province of Serbia; Serbia and Montenegro comprise Yugoslav....As they prepared to draft legislation financing the U.S. share of the fighting over Kosovo and aid to refugees, House GOP leaders said they would include money for the Pentagon to buy weapons and ammunition and to try to remedy a personnel shortage. ``I see a national security crisis,'' said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas. ``I see it as our first moral obligation.'' Armey refused to use a figure, but said Monday that a $10 billion measure would be insufficient. He blamed Clinton for the problem, saying Republicans must ``fill the void that's been left by this administration.'' ...Whatever the cost, Lott and Armey said they think the money will come from this year's projected $110 billion federal surplus, all of which is from the Social Security trust fund. That is a sensitive admission for Republicans because they have vowed to use Social Security surpluses only to overhaul the program or reduce the national debt. ``The president has asked for that money, and the American people need to understand that it's coming out of Social Security,'' Lott told reporters...."

4/20/99 U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe "… "According to the Pentagon’s most recent Quarterly Readiness Report, ‘there are currently 118 CINC (Commander-in-Chief)-identified readiness-related deficiencies of which 32 are designated Category 1 deficiencies (ones that entail significant warfighting risk to the execution of the National Military Strategy (NMS) and are key risk drivers for the MTW scenarios).’ "To meet these challenges and restore the military to where it needs to be, the Joint Chiefs testified that the Pentagon required budget increases of approximately $25 billion per year for the next six years. Responding to this, the President submitted a budget which he claimed amounted to a $12 billion increase (less than half what the chiefs requested on an annual basis). But on closer examination, we found it only amounted to about $2 billion in real new money, the rest coming from smoke and mirrors reprogrammings, and already calculated fuel cost savings and inflation adjustments. The fact is that the President has not yet seriously addressed the readiness crisis, except to make it worse…."

4/20/99 U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe "…U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) made the following statement today in response to remarks by presidential spokesman Joe Lockhart at Monday’s White House press briefing. Lockhart defended the President’s record concerning military readiness and said that the state of U.S. military readiness was "top-notch" and "first-rate." "As with so many other things, the White House is not leveling with the American people about the state of U.S. military readiness. The President has submitted status quo defense budgets, increased overseas deployments, and strongly opposed the fielding of a national missile defense system. He has decimated the Reagan-Bush legacy of military preparedness. While his spokesmen can try to claim that everything is fine, this White House has zero credibility on the issue of military readiness. "The fact is that today’s military is facing the most serious readiness crisis since the ‘hollow force’ of the late 1970s. In a series of high profile readiness hearings before Congress since last September, and before the outbreak of war in Kosovo, leaders from the Joint Chiefs on down have revealed that readiness today is lower than it was six years ago and that growing readiness problems loom in the very near future. "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified that the risk associated with our ability to execute the National Military Strategy (winning two major theater wars (MTWs) almost simultaneously) was moderate to high. In laymen’s terms, this means we cannot meet the 2 MTW requirement without significant numbers of American lives being placed at risk. And this is before we consider any war in the Balkans, where there is no vital U.S. security interest at stake. The chairman specifically testified that readiness is lower today than it was six years ago, when this administration took office…."

4/20/99 U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe "… "The White House seeks to perpetuate the myth that our military today is the same as it was in 1991 when we won the Gulf War or that we already have some form of national missile defense capability. Millions of Americans believe these things. They are wrong. And the President does nothing to disabuse them of their erroneous beliefs. "In category after category, from Army and other force personnel, to Air Force fighter wings and airlift capacity, to Navy ships at sea, today’s military is almost down to half what it was before the Gulf War. Ammunition and spare parts supplies are seriously depleted. Engines and other vital equipment are being routinely cannibalized. Military housing and pay desperately need improvement. Thousands of personnel are on food stamps. Air Force and Navy pilots are leaving in droves. Recruiting is down. Morale is not near what it should be. "When it comes to the greatest emerging 21st century threat--proliferating weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles--we have no deployed capability to intercept even one single solitary long range missile aimed at America. These are facts the White House would like to conceal from the American people. "All of these deficiencies relate directly to policy decisions made by this President. Without the war in Kosovo, the next administration is being left with a readiness and modernization mountain to climb bigger than we had to address in the early 1980s. With this war, the problems are only that much greater…."

National Review 5/3/99 Kate O'Beirne "...There may be disagreement among Republicans over Kosovo, but there is a growing consensus that restoring our national defenses should be a priority for them. After news accounts of the dwindling supply of cruise missiles, the scarcity of spare parts, and the abandonment of other trouble spots to engage in Kosovo, Republicans believe that this little war is foreshadowing the problems U.S. forces would face in a big war. Missouri Republican Jim Talent, who serves on the House subcommittee on military readiness, says, "If there is a silver lining in this cloud, [it's that] there will be an opportunity for a debate on national defense." That debate is long overdue. President Clinton has spent six years ignoring the needs of the military he now calls upon. Rep. Tillie Fowler, a Florida Republican, cites a recent Washington Post report about emboldened North Koreans closely monitoring the sorties and setbacks in Yugoslavia: "Every missile fired, every plane in the air, every soldier, airman, and sailor engaged, takes from somewhere else like Iraq or North Korea." The angry and frustrated Republican response to Kosovo is caused, in part, by the president's refusal to pay the costs of his military commitments. For the past few years, members have been hearing about personnel and equipment shortages from mid-level officers and families of servicemen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on readiness, heard about the shortfalls over a year ago, when Slobodan Milosevic was still a valued partner in the Dayton peace accords rather than Adolf Hitler. Military planners in Germany told the senator that providing ground logistical support to troops in the Balkans put them at 110 percent of their capacity. When he learned that trucks ferrying supplies to Bosnia had over a million miles on them, he added money for new trucks to last year's defense budget. "It's just absurd to spend more money on maintenance than on what a new truck would cost," says Sen. Inhofe. Over the past three years, Congress has added some $21 billion to President Clinton's defense-budget requests. But these increases have not kept up with the faster tempo of operations, as Clinton has made commitments in Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Bosnia, Macedonia, the Taiwan strait, and now Kosovo. ("There have been more deployments in the past six years than in the past 30," observes Inhofe.) Indeed, defense spending hasn't even kept up with inflation for the past 14 years. Each increase was passed over administration objections that the Pentagon hadn't asked for it...."

Washington Times 4/21/99 Bruce Bartlett Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS "The war in Yugoslavia is already shaping up as one of the most poorly planned conflicts in American history. As a consequence, defense officials are scrambling to pull together the resources needed to sustain our operations there. In just fiscal 1998 alone the Defense Department lost the following assets. * Aircraft. The number of combat aircraft fell by 434 or 4.8 percent. Sixty-two airlift planes were also retired, and 857 other aircraft. In total, 1,353 planes were taken from service, reducing the number of aircraft available by 6.6 percent. * Ships. More than 10 percent of all submarines were decommissioned, reducing the total to 123 from 137 the year before. Ten support ships were lost and 684 small boats. Overall, U.S. ship strength was reduced by 16 percent. * Combat vehicles. The number of tanks were reduced by 827 or 7.6 percent. Other combat vehicles fell by 6,360 or 14.5 percent. Overall, available combat vehicles declined 13.1 percent. "..."

AP 4/21/99 Anne Gearan "...Any qualified veteran can be buried with military honors -- a flag ceremony and the playing of ``Taps'' -- under a Pentagon plan to address complaints that the military sometimes did not accommodate funeral requests. The guarantee, which must be approved by Congress, would apply to veterans who served with honor, said Gail McGinn, deputy assistant secretary of defense for personnel support...Until now, the individual services handled funeral requests ad hoc -- sending representatives when they could but also turning down about a quarter of the 37,000 annual valid requests for funeral honors, McGinn said. The main problem in meeting the existing demand is that deaths of veterans have increased while the size of the military has decreased, she said...."

Manchester Union Leader 4/23/99 Richard Lessner "...The Constellation is bound for the Pacific - eventually. But until the venerable old flat top arrives on station sometime this fall, the United States will have no carrier deployed in the entire Pacific Ocean, this despite our widespread defense commitments in that half of the world. The Associated Press reported this week that because of the war in Yugoslavia and our the open-ended operation against Iraq in the Persian Gulf, the Navy is having to scramble to meet the various missions to which the Clinton peace hawks have committed us. As a result, the Pacific now is without a carrier presence. Worse, with just 12 active carriers (down from 16 eight years ago), the Navy is having to keep the flat tops at sea longer than usual.... The Pentagon, toeing the White House line, insists our military forces are adequate for this two-war mission, but defense analysts increasingly are doubtful the downsized military is up to the task. We are stretched dangerously thin. Weakness always invites aggression, if not directed at us, then at our allies or interests. This is the result of letting former Yippies and peaceniks play at foreign policy...."

Washington Times 4/30/99 Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough "...Military planners and regional commanders in chief (Cincs) are beginning to worry there may not be enough forces to handle new conflicts with Iraq or North Korea because of the war in the Balkans. The Pentagon is sending forces from the Persian Gulf and the Pacific to NATO. The drawdown has stretched the U.S. presence thin, according to a senior U.S. government national security official. "We are eroding our ability to deter a North Korean missile attack or invasion of the South, and we are lessening the pressure against Saddam,'' the official said. ..."The problem is that we used to be able to fight and win two regional conflicts, but under Clinton we have gone to one and a half and now one." The pinch is not limited to military forces. Intelligence resources also are stretched thin due to drawdowns of intelligence resources under the Clinton administration. Satellites that focus on the Middle East and the Pacific have been shifted to the Balkans, leaving bare spots in coverage of those parts of the world. Analysts also are being taken off other regions and put to work on Serbia...."

American Forces Press Service 4/30/99 Jim Garamone "...Up to 33,102 reserve component members can be called to active duty for Operation Allied Force under a presidential selected reserve call-up signed April 27 by President Clinton..... The services are also authorized to invoke Stop-Loss programs that would suspend service members' normal separation dates from active duty. The Air Force will invoke the Stop-Loss program; personnel most affected are pilots, air crews, aircraft maintenance personnel and those in other critical specialties. Air Force Maj. Gen. Susan Pamerleau, director of personnel forces management on the Air Staff, said the service invoked Stop-Loss as a matter of fairness because of the large number of reservists being called up. She said, however, that Stop-Loss will specifically target those in critical specialties needed for the operation...."

LA Times 4/30/99 Peter Gosselin "...WASHINGTON--The U.S. military, strained by continuing operations against Iraq as well as NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, is running low on some of the very weapons it needs to fight the wars of its choice. The nation's stockpile of cruise missiles--the most versatile of the current generation of "smart" weapons--is being depleted by the unexpectedly large number of attacks--and at a time when there are no production lines in operation. .... More recently, Navy officials have said they are replenishing supplies of a sea-launched version of the cruise missile--called the Tomahawk--by, among other things, refurbishing some 200 older missiles now in storage. "We need more than we have in order to be comfortable," said John Douglass, assistant Navy secretary for research and acquisitions until he left in September to become president of the Aerospace Industries Assn. "It's gradually dawning on all of us that the mean time between crises where we might want to use them is much shorter than anybody thought a few years ago." ...The Clinton administration has asked for $6 billion to pay for the current campaign, almost 10% of it for missiles. "We're short across the board in munitions, and this is the time to do something about it," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-El Cajon), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on procurement...."If there is anything we have learned in the last decade, it is that we cannot bomb indiscriminately because of the public backlash," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank. Most analysts estimate that 90% of the weapons used so far in the Yugoslav conflict have been precision-guided. "All of a sudden, the Air Force has got a new role," said Frank Robbins, director of precision strike systems at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida...."

Washington Post 4/30/99 Bradley Graham Freeper starlu "...The general who oversees U.S. combat aircraft said yesterday the Air Force has been sorely strained by the Kosovo conflict and would be hard-pressed to handle a second war in the Middle East or Korea. Gen. Richard Hawley, who heads the Air Combat Command, told reporters that five weeks of bombing Yugoslavia have left U.S. munition stocks critically short, not just of air-launched cruise missiles as previously reported, but also of another precision weapon, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) dropped by B-2 bombers. So low is the inventory of the new satellite-guided weapons, Hawley said, that as the bombing campaign accelerates, the Air Force risks exhausting its prewar supply of more than 900 JDAMs before the next scheduled delivery in May. "It's going to be really touch-and-go as to whether we'll go Winchester on JDAMs," the four-star general said, using a pilot's term for running out of bullets...."

StratFor Web Site 4/30/99 - 0200 GMT "...The simmering dispute between the Clinton Administration and the U.S. military leadership broke into the open again today after U.S. Air Force's head of the Air Combat Command, Richard Hawley, reported that the U.S. Air Force was running short of key munitions and that it might not have enough in reserve to fight a war on a second front. Hawley, clearly referring to the ongoing, low-grade air campaign in Iraq, was quickly countered by White House spokesman Joe Lockhart and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who both asserted that sufficient munitions were available for all necessary missions. The fact that a very senior Air Force officer would make such an assertion in public is a measure of the tension between the White House and the Air Force..... Air Force officers are now engaging in career-killing, public criticisms of the air campaign. The White House, rather than firing them, is arguing with them in public. Behind these strange goings on is the fact that the Air Force does not intend to be blamed for the failure of the campaign that is supposed to achieve Milosevic's capitulation. By focusing on the lack of munitions, the Air Force is trying to focus attention on the Clinton administration's history of budget cutting. The issue is not only munitions. Rather, it is the sense that the White House has forced the Air Force into a no-win situation. What is extraordinary is that the behind-the-scenes tension that has been present throughout the war, is now breaking into the open and that the White House does not feel itself on sure enough ground to simply order Hawley's dismissal...."

USA Today 4/28/99 Duncan Hunter "...The Clinton-Gore team has bled the military such that the Army is short $3.5 billion worth of basic ammunition alone. The Marines are short $193 million. Combined shortages for the Navy and Air Force exceed $6 billion. The services also face critical shortages of spare parts, equipment and training. This short funding has contributed to 56 military crashes in the past 14 months, resulting in 62 dead Americans. None were in combat, but were the result of the Clinton-Gore team stretching the military so thin it is now breaking. While Congress has added $29.5 billion over the past five years, the ammo pouches and spare-parts bins remain nearly empty. The formula for calculating the shortages is easy: Take the president's "Two Major Regional Conflict Plan" (that is, our military should be big and strong enough to fight and win two, nearly simultaneous wars) and match it against stocks of ammunition, parts and equipment. This brings enormous shortages to light. Last week, the services gave us their shortage list for near-term war-fighting capability, documented down to specific ammunition and spare parts: The Air Force alone reports shortages of $18 billion; the Navy, $3.8 billion; the Army, $3.7 billion; and Marines, $3.2 billion. Against this $28.7 billion need, the administration offers a mere $5.5 billion, one-fifth of what it will take to outfit our services properly. The Clinton-Gore treatment of our men and women in uniform is clear: They are inadequately paid (about 11,000 military personnel are now on food stamps); they are short on ammunition; and mission capability rates have fallen below 70% across the board. Many of our aircraft are considered dangerous to fly. All while the president continues to deploy our troops at a feverish pace. Congress should reverse the starvation diet the president has given our military personnel and fully fund the current $28.7 billion shortage...."

stratfor.com 4/29/99 Freeper henbane "2109 GMT, 990429 - Operation Allied Force has taken a toll on the U.S. Air Force's inventory of key precision munitions. Speaking at a reporter's breakfast, Air Force General Richard Hawley, head of the Air Combat Command, said that the munitions have been used up so fast that the air force is having trouble keeping them in stock. Hawley said that the air force has accelerated production of the satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), carried by the B-2 stealth bomber, but it will be "touch and go" as to whether they run out before new ones are delivered next month. As well, he also noted that conventional air-launched cruise missiles (CALCM) also are in short supply and no new ones are scheduled to be delivered until September. Hawley, who is near retirement, also expressed the air force's uneasiness with the political constraints under which the air war is being fought, and concern that air power is being discredited by a strategy that has failed to use it to full advantage. "Clearly in our air force doctrine, air power works best when it's used decisively. Shock, mass are the way to achieve early results," he said. "Clearly because of the constraints in this operation we haven't seen that at this point. ..."

The Claremont Institute (via e-mail) 5/3/99 Larry P. Arnn, Pres "...As we fight in Kosovo, where dangers multiply and success recedes, steps are neglected that can secure our freedom from attack at home. Reports abound that America's stock of cruise missiles runs perilously low, and no assembly line is producing more. The president has committed to ballistic missile defense, and yet he takes no urgent steps to complete a practical system and get it into operation. Meanwhile, China and Iraq give assistance to North Korea, a primitive and brutal place, in its effort to develop the means of direct and devastating attack upon the United States. .... "

Washington Times 5/3/99 Rowan Scarborough ".... Navy commander has warned the service's fleet of radar reconnaissance planes, including those flying against Yugoslavia, that shortages of aircraft, spare parts and training hours created a safety threat in his unit. The squadron commander told Adm. Jay Johnson, the chief of naval operations, in a "hazard report" that "over the past year, we have not been given the tools necessary to do [our mission]. We've merely been fighting for survival. " The commander also said in an accompanying memo that the shortage "severely degrades a squadron's ability to maintain minimum aircrew proficiency levels. . . Lack of proficiency for a squadron is detrimental to the safety of the lives of everyone involved in launching, flying and recovering aircraft." The April memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, tells of crews passing parts from squadron to squadron to keep carrier units ready. It also tells of pilots not achieving minimum training hours while waiting to deploy...."

Aviation Week & Space Technology 5/3/99 DAVID A. FULGHUM "...Unless the U.S. begins severely rationing high-accuracy, all-weather bombs and air-launched cruise missiles, the Air Force could run out of its weapons of choice in NATO's air war against Yugoslavia before the end of May. "At the current expenditure rate, it's going to really be touch and go as to whether we will [run out of] JDAMs before we get the next delivery," said Gen. Richard Hawley, chief of Air Combat Command. "It's iffy. It's very close. There isn't any room for error if we're going to be able to sustain [the air campaign]." These looming shortages have senior service officials scrambling to find the money and means to massively increase production--perhaps by more than 10 times--of Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance tail kit and to begin production of new conventional air-launched cruise missiles (Calcms) with longer range, more efficient engines and modern avionics. ...."

The Union Leader 5/10/99 Richard Lessner "...There was a time in the United States Army when surrendering without a fight would get a soldier court-martialed; today it earns him medals, including the highly regarded Army Commendation medal. This is not to fault the three GIs released last week after a month in captivity following their capture on the Macedonian-Yugoslav border. The hapless soldiers probably were operating under typically restrictive rules of engagement and, let's face it, training is not what it once was. As retired colonel and Pentagon critic David Hackworth puts it, the Army used to produce warriors; now it trains social workers.... The Army is now operating in 73 countries. The reason Mr. Clinton has ruled out the use of ground forces in Kosovo is simple: the Army's 10 active divisions (down from 18 in 1992) are tied down elsewhere. ....So at least one good thing will come of this misguided misadventure in the Balkans: It has revealed the appalling state of our military readiness after years of benign neglect and the need to rebuild a robust national defense...."

Associated Press 5/12/99 Tom Raum, "...Discouraged by a long Russian delay on an arms-reduction pact, the Senate Armed Services Committee was ready to support a plan for reducing the Navy's nuclear-missile sub fleet from 18 to 14, congressional officials said Wednesday. Four of the Trident submarines now armed with nuclear missiles would be refitted for other purposes under the plan expected to win the panel's backing as it works behind closed doors on a defense spending bill for fiscal 2000, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity...."

4/2/99 Aviation Week & Space Technology "....Every year, the U.S. Air Force puts on an Aerospace Power Demonstration in Florida to display publicly, its proficiency in wielding the weapons of modern warfare. Consider what the audience saw at last year's show. The first plane that flew over was a KC-135 tanker, basically a military version of Boeing's old 707 jetliner. The Air Force has more than 500 KC-135s in service, but their average age is 38 years. It has plans to keep some of them flying until they're twice that age. The KC-135 was refueling a B-52H bomber. B-52s are expected to make up more than one-third of the heavy bomber fleet for he next 30 years. Average age today: 37 years. The B-52 was designed in the early 1950s, and the Air Force plans to retire the last one in 2037. That's a design-to-demise life span of nearly 90 years-sort of like flying a World War I biplane today....."

Yahoo News - WASHINGTON (Reuters) 5/16/1999 Los Angeles Times Freeper sunshine "...The U.S. agency that provided the map used in the accidental attack on China's embassy in Belgrade was involved in three tragedies in the past 15 months in which 28 people died, including the shearing by a U.S. plane of a ski cable in Italy that killed 20 people, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. ``The current (Defense Department) system to generate and distribute imagery and mapping products for use in mission planning is broke,'' Lt. Col. Phil Meteer wrote on April 30 in an internal Air Force report obtained by the Times...."

Orlando Sentinel 5/16/99 Charley Reese Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...If Congress wants to reduce America's military forces, then do so, but, by God, keep the remaining forces fully equipped, fully maintained and fully trained. ...It is, so far as I'm concerned, malfeasance to chisel the military on maintenance, spare parts and training time so some buffoon can posture that he has balanced the budget while spending even more on politically profitable social programs. But that's exactly what Congress has done. And the responsibility does fall squarely on Congress. Though most Americans don't seem to know it, Congress, not the president, has exclusive right to determine the budget. ...Congress has the right to ask aviators to die. It doesn't have the right to kill them with budget cuts...."

Pacific Stars And Stripes 5/19/99 Richard Roesler Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Budget cuts, frequent deployments, aging weapons systems and the loss of experienced mid-career airmen are all threatening to turn the Air Force into a "hollow force," the president of the Air Force Association said Monday. ...Budget cuts since, he said, have left an Air Force "showing signs of a hollow force, much like we had in the 1970s. ...Although the force has shrunk dramatically, airmen are deploying four times as much as they did during the Cold War...."

Washington Times 5/12/99 Rowan Scarborough "Defense Secretary William S. Cohen warned yesterday that a prolonged bombing of Yugoslavia eventually will grind down U.S. pilots' morale and declared that his stretched-out military worldwide either needs more troops or fewer missions. "We have a situation where we have a smaller force and we have more missions, and so . . . we are wearing out systems, we're wearing out people," Mr. Cohen told a Senate panel. "That's the real danger that we face: That we've got to find a way to either increase the size of our forces or decrease the number of our missions." ...."

Aviation Week 5/17/99 "... Pentagon officials say the air campaign waged by heavy bombers in Yugoslavia has validated the need for more of the large-payload aircraft. Currently the force stands at 180 B-2s, B-1s and B-52s, but only 130 are currently available for operations. Proponents of the big bombers say a minimum of 184 mission-ready aircraft are needed to fight two conflicts. No one thinks B-2 production could be restarted, but some Air Force officials are eyeing upgrades for the existing fleet. In addition, officials say the U.S. should begin planning for the B-X, a heavy bomber with the capabilities of the B-2 at about half the price...."

Marine Corps Times 5/31/99 SENATOR WATNE ALLARD Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...The Clinton-Gore administration has used the military more than Presidents Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon combined. Not only has the military been asked to do more with less funding and fewer people, it has been staying engaged longer, as seen in Bosnia, Haiti and soon -- I can almost guarantee -- Kosovo. ....The Army has lost eight divisions, a 45 percent decrease in combat strength and a 36 percent reduction in total personnel. The Navy has seen a 38 percent decrease in its number of ships. The Air Force's fighter wings are down 45 percent. And the Marine Corps has been downsized by 12 percent. Overall, the defense budget has been reduced from $292.2 billion in 1993 to $277.5 billion in 1999. While this downsizing occurred, the pace of operations for our military increased by more than 300 percent...."

Armed Force Information ServicesJim Garamone 5/26/99 "....When President Clinton mobilized 33,102 reservists April 27, he also quietly gave the services the little-used right to keep members in uniform past their normal separation or retirement dates. The presidential authority, called the Stop Loss program, suspends laws related to military retirements, separations and promotions. The president delegates it downward to the service secretaries through Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Stop Loss can only be initiated after a declaration of war, during a national emergency or when members of any reserve component are involuntarily called to active duty. Further, the authority lasts only as long as the period for which reserve component members have been involuntarily activated...."

SECDEFNSE 5/26/99 "...Acting Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan announced their decision today to implement Stop Loss, suspending normal separations and retirements for people in critical career fields effective June 15.... Stop Loss will affect 40 percent or approximately 120,000 of those now on active duty. Slightly more than 6,000 individuals who have requested and received permission to separate or retire from the Air Force between June 15 and Dec. 31, 1999, will be required to remain in uniform as a result of Stop Loss...."

Center for Security Policy 5/25/99 "....Today's release of the declassified version of the 900-page report, unanimously adopted last December by a select House committee chaired by Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA), should be a wake-up call for America. It lays bare -- in the most comprehensive manner performed by any agency of the government to date -- the magnitude of the menace posed by China's efforts to buy, divert or steal the fruits of U.S. military and civilian inventiveness..... It would be a mistake to focus exclusively on the damaging details of the Cox report while overlooking the larger question of China's intentions. Likewise, it would be an error of the first order to ignore policies that threaten greatly to exacerbate the damage done by Chinese espionage and other harmful initiatives. These include: The Clinton Administration's decision to base America's deterrent in the future on nuclear weapons that have been remanufactured to extend their service life, but never tested to ensure that the updated devices work properly. As the Center for Security Policy's President, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., notes in a column that appears in today's Washington Times (see the attached): Modern thermonuclear weapons are among the most complex and temperamental of machines. Our decades of experience with these devices tells us that replacing aging parts -- to say nothing of more substantial updating of components in a weapon like the MX missile's W-87 warhead -- introduces changes whose effect on performance cannot be reliably predicted by even the most sophisticated of computer simulations. We have tried to do without testing in the past and routinely discovered problems, even catastrophic ones, only after the weapons were subjected to underground tests...... The danger of Russian nuclear mishaps and a growing menace from China -- to say nothing of the increasingly worrisome missile/weapon of mass destruction capabilities of such rogue states as Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Libya and Syria -- obviously argues not only for maintaining a credible, reliable and effective U.S. deterrent, but also demands that the United States at last field a defense against ballistic missile attack..... "

Washington Post 5/29/99 Eric Pianin "...For the first time since the Reagan era, a bipartisan consensus has emerged for a major defense buildup, as Congress and the administration rapidly move toward agreement on a substantial increase in military spending. With U.S. forces stretched thin throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East and troubling reports from the Kosovo war of shortages of missiles and jet fighter parts, the White House and GOP leaders agree that it's no longer a question of whether to beef up the military but by how much.... "

Defense Daily 5/21/99 David Atkinson Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...Unless the Air Force implements stop-loss measures, which prevent airmen from leaving the military at the end of their commitments while at war, the service cannot support the current level of operations into the fall, according to a former commander of the Air National Guard.....The need for stop-loss measures comes from the fact that the Air Force, unlike the other services, is at a major theater war-level effort, Sheppard said...."

House of Representatives 5/24/99 Rep. Kurt Weldon (R-PA) "...For 7 years, Mr. Speaker, we have heard the rhetoric coming from the White House that the world is safe, there are no problems, our security is intact, and therefore, we can dramatically cut the size of our defense forces and we can, in fact, shift that money over to other purposes. During the 7 years that that has occurred, Democrats and Republicans alike in this body and the other body have joined together to constantly remind the administration that things were not quite as good as they were being portrayed to the American people. Unfortunately, we were not as successful as we would have liked. In fact, Mr. Speaker, State of the Union speech after State of the Union speech the President would stand before the American people and would talk about the economy, would talk about jobs, would talk about crimes domestically, but no mention of national security concerns....In fact, Mr. Speaker, what has been occurring over the past 7 years with strong concerns expressed by both Democrats and Republicans alike in this body is that we have committed our troops to too many places in a short period of time to be effective in modernizing for the future and in protecting America's vital interests around the world. ....In the time period from the end of World War II until 1991, during the administration of all those Presidents in between, from Harry Truman through Democrat and Republican administrations ending with George Bush, all of those commanders in chief, as they have the ability to under our Constitution, deployed our troops a total of 10 times, 10 times at home and around the world. Some of those deployments were very serious, like Korea and Vietnam and Desert Storm. Since 1991, Mr. Speaker, our current commander in chief has deployed our troops 33 times, 33 times in 8 years versus 10 times in 40 years. Mr. Speaker, none of these deployments were paid for, none of them were budgeted for, none of these deployments had the administration asking the Congress to vote in support of the deployment before our troops were committed. .....there were documents internally within the intelligence community, submitted to the administration, outlining the CIA's concern that if the bombing took place it would cause a humanitarian catastrophe, and that is exactly what has happened. It is far worse than just the humanitarian catastrophe. In fact, many of those analysts said that we actually contributed to the refugee crisis because when we bombed, it obviously caused the observers who were in the former Yugoslavia to leave that country, which then gave Milosevic a free hand to continue at a much higher level the ethnic cleansing and the significant attacks on innocent people. So in effect, Mr. Speaker, what the intelligence community was saying to us as a Nation, prior to a decision to conduct the aerial campaign, was that if we went ahead, we would cause the situation to become much worse. That is exactly what has occurred. ....We have done something else, Mr. Speaker. We have managed to do what one colleague of mine from the Russian Duma told me the Soviet communist party could not accomplish in 70 years, after expending billions of dollars, to convince the Russian people that America was evil, that we really were designed as a nation to hurt innocent people. He said Russians are now convinced, after some 55 days of bombing, which it was when he was here, that this country really is evil. So we have managed to do in 55 days what the Soviet communist party could not accomplish in Russia in 70 years......Every Member of Congress should read this book. In fact, it has hit the bestseller list in just the first week it was on the stands. Why is this book so important, Mr. Speaker? Because it details, in depth, an analysis of this spin on defense concerns in this country over the past 7 years...."

6/11/99 Linda A. Prussen-Razzano RightMagazine "...The Navy's primary concern is Fleet readiness. Fleet readiness is typically measured in the amount of fully equipped, fully trained Battle Groups (BG) available in a specific part of the world, in direct proportion to a perceived threat.....In 1993, the Navy's BA (Basic Allowance) for manning a BG was 95%; it was subsequently reduced to 93%. By 1997, it was reduced again to 90%. Despite the forced decline in mandated Status of Readiness and Training System (SORTS) standards, the actual manpower afloat "among junior enlisted (E-1 to E-3) general detail (GENDET) personnel" averages 86%. "Navy wide we are short approximately 6,000 GENDETS." (Statement of Vice Admiral Herbert A. Browne, Jr, II Commander, Third Fleet, Before the Readiness, Personnel, and Milcon Subcommittee of the House National Security Committee on Fleet Readiness, September 25, 1998)....."Onboard USS SHILOH (CG-67) (a LINCOLN BG Cruiser) during the 1995 deployment, there were ten Aegis fire control technicians with job specialty designators 1119, now there are six. E-3 and below manning on the SHILOH is at 61%." (Vice Admiral Herbert A. Browne, Jr., II Commander, September 25, 1998).....Let us remember, in 1996 the President gave COSCO a $137 million "nonrecourse" loan to build 5 new ships, but our Navy has to maintain aging or obsolesced equipment because it's "better than nothing." ....."

6/11/99 Linda A. Prussen-Razzano RightMagazine "...Weapons stations funding constraints are impacting the operational forces. Our limited Receipt, Segregation, Storage and Issue (RSS&I) funds require us to crossdeck ammunition from ship to ship. The USS TARAWA had to get underway to onload ammunition from USS PELELIU as she returned from deployment. USS CARL VINSON had to have additional underway days added to her schedule in order to receive ammunition from USS MOUNT HOOD, who had to get underway to offload USS JOHN C STENNIS enroute to San Diego from deployment. "Another aircraft funding issue is the loss of the S-3B's Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability. The pipeline for the enlisted aircrew needed in the S-3B Viking to conduct this essential mission has already shut down... meaning the Viking will be unable to conduct this primary mission. ASW is critical in providing a zone of protection around sea lines of communication against enemy submarines" (Vice Admiral Herbert A. Browne, Jr., II Commander, September 25, 1998)...."

6/11/99 Linda A. Prussen-Razzano RightMagazine "...Ready for the clincher? On November 26, 1997, President Clinton signed HR2159 (Public Law 105-188), Foreign Operations Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 1998." In it, we gave away the following: $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF). We lent foreign countries the money to buy American military equipment. $2.4 billion for the Economic Support Fund (ESF). These funds went to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey. $230 million for the international drug control program