With Air Force Secretary Michael Donley already condemning the notion of delaying the expensive and largely useless F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon seems to be pretty solidly together on the need to protect their budget, the largest military budget in the history of mankind.
But even shills need a little help now and again, and to that end Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is poised to issue a “special guidance” to officials on how to “convey in broad, strategic terms” how dangerous any cuts are.
The guidance comes in the wake of last week’s Aerospace Industries Association meeting, which decided on a plan to lobby Congress against any cuts to the record military budget, arguing it was “cut to the bone.”
It was initially believed that, in the face of massive budget deficits, the military budget would at least be debated by the supercommittee. Increasingly, however, the forces arrayed against it have become so shrill in their opposition that it seems unlikely the committee will even broach the subject.
