The CBO released another document yesterday, in addition to healthcare –
Long-Term Implications of the
Department of Defense’s
Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Submission
before the
Committee on Armed Services
U.S. House of Representatives
November 18, 2009
This testimony is the latest installment in CBO’s analyses of DoD’s budget requests. It concerns CBO’s preliminary projections for fiscal years 2011 through 2028. Those projections are based in part on the President’s 2010 budget request and budget justification materials the Administration provided to the Congress with that request.3 Among the other sources CBO consulted to supplement its analysis were DoD press releases and briefing materials and the Secretary of Defense’s announcement in April 2009 of changes to the nation’s defense plans.4 For its analyses of past budget requests, CBO has drawn from information in DoD’s Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), which typically is submitted to the Congress with the President’s annual budget request.5 This year, however, the Administration did not submit a FYDP, which would have covered the years 2011 through 2015.
Is the Obama Afghan position determined by the CBO budget projections?
Is closing GITMO a cost saving measure? Just transfer the expense to NY? Another budget? Not really saving money, just moving the expense?
CBO projects that carrying out the plans proposed in the President’s 2010 budget request, excluding overseas contingency operations (in general, overseas military operations against hostile forces—currently consisting of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and military actions elsewhere to combat terrorism), would require defense resources averaging $567 billion annually (in constant 2010 dollars) from 2011 to 2028 (see Figure 1 on page 16 and Table 1 on page 21).6…
This year, the Administration has requested a full year of anticipated appropriations for those operations along with its regular defense budget request. In June 2009, the U.S. military had deployed 172,000 service members to the Iraq theater and 59,000 to the Afghanistan theater. The Administration’s request of $130 billion for 2010 would support a smaller total number: 100,000 service members in Iraq and 68,000in Afghanistan. 9 CBO does not have access to DoD’s estimates of costs for overseas contingency operations in 2011 or later that would have been contained in the 2010 FYDP.10
Does this mean that there is a significant force reduction in order? 9,000 more for Afghanistan?
CBO has developed a scenario under which, consistent with the Status of Forces Agreement signed by the governments of Iraq and the United States in November 2008, all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by December 31, 2011. The total number of U.S. military personnel deployed worldwide would decline to 30,000 starting in fiscal year 2013, although those troops would be in unspecified locations and not necessarily in Iraq or Afghanistan.11…
When do the 68,000 leave Afghanistan? Where are the 30,000 to be stationed and when?
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10730/11-18-FY2010_DoD_Budget.pdfNo security for Americans? Just good will? A hope and prayer defense for America?
