THREE MARTINI LUNCH: FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Jim Geraghty and Greg Corombos like the progress made by the freedom fighters in Ukraine, dislike the major military spending cuts coming from the Obama administration, and enjoy tremendously the news of Piers Morgan having his primetime CNN show axed.



The Defense Budget vs. History

Traditionally, military planners have operated under a worst-case scenario: i.e., what do we need to have in place to respond if nothing goes as planned? The Obama administration and Congress appear to be operating under a best-case scenario: i.e., what is the minimum force we can field on the assumption that nothing will go terribly wrong?

Thus the new defense budget, being unveiled today, which cuts the army's active-duty force size to the smallest level since before World War II - just 440,000 to 450,000 soldiers. That's down from a wartime high of 570,000, although even that figure was painfully inadequate to allow the U.S. to respond to two unforeseen wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Also read:

Pier-ing Into the Abyss of Cancellation

Piers Morgan's Decline and Fall: Who is honestly surprised that he failed?