Washington, January 24: With the US national debt now standing at record high of over $14 trillion, Republicans have ramped up their calls to slash state funds for a rash of scientific researches, housing and education plans as well as other non-military programs instead of military spending — in an effort to rein in the country’s huge budget deficit.
Powell bristled at Republican leaders for playing politics with the budget, saying the only antidote to tackle the budget deficit is to curb the military expenditures.
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, the former secretary of state under the presidency of George W. Bush said he does not think the Pentagon’s budget should be made sacrosanct.
“When the Cold War ended 20 years ago, when I was chairman and [Dick] Cheney was Secretary of Defense, we cut the defense budget by 25 percent. And we reduced the force by 500,000 active duty soldiers, so it can be done. Now, how fast you can do it and what you have to cut out remains to be seen, but I don’t think the defense budget can be made sacrosanct and it can’t be touched,” Powell stated.
He made the remarks as the administration of US President Barack Obama has proposed cutting $78 billion from the military budget in the next five years.
The proposal has prompted grave concerns among many Republicans, who are deeply worried about the US involvement in overstretched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the necessary financial support for the missions abroad.
During their campaign for the mid-term elections last year, Republicans vowed to cut $100 billion from the budget in an effort to control spending, with many of the party’s senior leaders saying Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and military and veteran spending should remain untouched.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Powell stopped short of endorsing any candidate for the 2012 presidential election.
“I’m not committed to Barack Obama. I’m not committed to a Republican candidate,” the moderate Republican said.
“I am not committed to any candidate until I see all the candidates and finally see who the two candidates are who are going for this position,” Powell concluded.
——–Agencies