Cutting the Defense Budget

The Christian Science Monitor and Knight Ridder is reporting on this "Non-partisan study:

The report ... singles out such programs as the F-22 stealth fighter jet, the Virginia-class submarine, the DD(X) destroyer, the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and the C-130J cargo plane as having "scant relevance to the threats we face" and recommends that they be eliminated or reduced significantly. The group also recommends: Slashing the US nuclear arsenal from 6,000 to 600 operational warheads, while keeping another 400 in reserve; Eliminating the Trident II nuclear missile; Halting further deployment of a national ballistic-missile defense system, but maintaining a basic research program; Canceling further research into space-based weapons. Other suggestions include slowing development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Army's Future Combat System and deactivating an Air Force fighter wing and a Navy aircraft-carrier battle group.

This is something I've been recommending, especially the big-ticket items and Cold War legacy weapons. Sure, I know we are at war, but I also believe our monopoly on stealth and precision guided weapons give us a breathing space, at least into the next decade.