Special Operations to Fuel Pentagon Growth Going Forward

Deputy Defense Secretary Insists Special Operations Will Continue to Grow

In a recent speech at Duke University, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter praised President Obama for ensuring that the budget problems didn’t hinder the Pentagon’s continued spending.

“Obama made sure that we didn’t eat our seed corn,” Carter insisted, adding that the special operations forces budget would continue to grow even if the wars end at some point in the future.

Carter railed against proposed military cuts, insisting that it was “idiotic” and that the whole point of sequestration was to force Congress to never allow it to happen, because of course military spending cuts are unthinkable.

Of course that’s just one of the many avenues of growth the Pentagon has staked out, with officials only a week ago announcing a plan to totally revamp the DIA as a massive intelligence agency capable of rivaling the CIA worldwide.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.