When it comes to foreign policy, the first 100 days of George W. Bush’s administration has been a mixed bag. For the most part, Bush does seem to be following a relatively more non-interventionist path than Bill Clinton did, but at the same time he seems to be giving a lot of weight to Pentagon hard liners who want bigger budgets for exotic new weapons systems. A good example of this mixed blessing is the administration’s proposal for an idea whose time has come — the abandonment of the so-called two fronts military strategy.
The two fronts position says that the U.S. military should be ready to fight major wars on at least two fronts, and pegs the size of the military to fulfill that role. With the end of the Cold War, what little logic there was behind this policy all but disappeared. But that didn’t stop the Clinton administration from keeping it in place.
Now numerous news agencies are reporting that as part of the review of the military Bush ordered, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is preparing to announce that the United States will abandon the two fronts strategy. This is a very good development.
The downside is that although the administration seems likely to recommend significant cuts in the number of military personnel, it is apparently going to argue that this smaller armed force nonetheless will require sizeable budget increases. Apparently the idea is to equip this smaller force with advanced, exotic — and more expensive — weapons systems.
A better plan would be to make significant cuts in both the size and budget of the military and simultaneously extricate the United States from commitments that would lead the nation into a military intervention abroad.
Source:
US ends ‘two fronts’ strategy. The BBC, May 7, 2001.