USA | Mattis blames Congress for poor state of US combat readiness

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford (left) Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (center) and Defense Under Secretary and Chief Financial Officer David Norquist

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis blamed the inability of Congress to deliver an annual defense budget for what he called a shockingly poor state of combat readiness as the United States faces fierce rivals, including what he described as an “urgent and dangerous threat” from North Korea.

Testifying yesterday [Macau time] before the House Armed Services Committee, Mattis took aim at lawmakers for repeatedly approving short-term spending measures that provide too little money and lack the authority the service branches need to prepare their troops for the battlefield. He also faulted Capitol Hill for not repealing a law that strictly limits defense spending even though there is widespread support for doing away with the measure.

Congress has “sidelined itself from its active constitutional oversight role,” Mattis said. “It has blocked new programs, prevented service growth, stalled industry initiative and placed troops at greater risk.” Despite support from the committee, Mattis said “Congress as a whole has met the present challenge with lassitude, not leadership.”

Mattis, who appeared before the panel with Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea’s “continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them has increased in pace and scope.” He called Pyongyang’s programs to build weapons of mass destruction “a clear and present danger to all.”

The defense secretary warned that a war with North Korea would be “very, very serious” and be unlike anything the world has seen since 1953 when the Korean war ended. Dunford said the U.S. and its allies would win, but the casualties would be “unlike anything we’ve seen” in decades.

The committee called Mattis and Dunford to field questions about President Donald Trump’s proposed military budget for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Trump requested USD639 billion for the Pentagon, including $65 billion for ongoing military operations. Yet Republican lawmakers are pressing for upward of $30 billion more to be added to the budget. They argue the extra money is needed to rebuild the military degraded by years of war and erratic budgets.

“The world is not stopping and waiting on us to get our act together,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the committee chairman. “It moves on, and it is moving in a dangerous direction.”

During the wide-ranging hearing, Mattis sought congressional approval to shutter excess military bases — a move the Pentagon concludes will save billions of dollars but one that lawmakers have previously rejected.

Mattis proposed a new round of base closings starting in 2021. He said the department “currently has more infrastructure capacity than required for operations.” That outlook won’t change even if the service branches grow in size, he said. Closing the unneeded bases would save $10 billion over a five-
year period, Mattis said, which could be used to acquire four nuclear submarines or dozens of jet fighters. AP