US defence cuts won't be done in 'hasty' way: Panetta

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta vowed on Wednesday to ensure that $350 billion in defence cuts included in a spending deal this week are not carried out in a "hasty, ill-conceived way" that would hurt US national security. But Panetta, in a message to US troops world-wide, said a second round of up to $500 billion in potential defence cuts included in the measure were "completely unacceptable" and he would work with the administration to find a common-sense alternative.
Under the agreement to raise the US borrowing limit approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday, the Pentagon would be required to find cuts to reduce its spending by $350 billion over the next decade. The Defence Department could be hit with another round of $500 billion in spending cuts if Congress misses the end of the year deadline to approve further government savings to be identified in coming months by a special budget panel.
The agreement aims to force Congress and the president to compromise on further deficit reduction measures or face an outcome that both Republicans and Democrats would find unacceptable. Panetta, in his message to the troops, said the initial round of spending cuts were in line with the $400 billion in reductions over 12 years that Obama had requested in April. The Pentagon was already reviewing alternatives to achieve those cuts, which will now be replaced by the $350 billion target.
"I believe we can implement these reductions while maintaining the excellence of our military," Panetta said. "But to do that, spending choices must be based on sound strategy and policy." But he said failure to achieve a compromise on further deficit reduction measures "could trigger a round of dangerous across-the-board defence cuts that would do real damage to our security, our troops and their families, and our ability to protect the nation."
"This potential deep cut in defence spending is not meant as policy. Rather, it is designed to be unpalatable to spur responsible, balanced deficit reduction and avoid misguided cuts to our security," Panetta said. "This outcome would be completely unacceptable to me as secretary of defence, the president, and to our nation's leaders," he said, promising to do all he could to help lawmakers make "common-sense cuts."
Top military leaders, in hearings before congressional panels in the last few weeks, have indicated that finding the $400 billion in cuts Obama sought was difficult but manageable. But they warned that substantially more in spending cuts would require a strategic rethinking of how the US uses its military and the goals it is meant to achieve.