Cass Ballenger: “the war in Kosovo has exposed a military readiness and national security vulnerability that must be removed. Evidence of…”

“the war in Kosovo has exposed a military readiness and national security vulnerability that must be removed. Evidence of our current military shortage is abundant: We are dangerously close to running out of air-launched cruise missiles, a situation unthinkable in the days of Ronald Reagan's strong leadership. More than half of the B1-B bombers in Ellsworth Air Force Base are not mission capable because they lack critical parts. We are diverting planes from their patrols over the Iraqi no-fly zone in order to fill out the Kosovo mission. Republican complaints and oversight hearings about this deteriorating situation over the past 6 years have been met with silence in the White House and indifference in the press. No one seems to care. For four straight years, four straight years, the Republican Congress appropriated more money for defense than the President requested. But each year it is more of the same: an inadequate defense budget and insufficient resources. Now will the President finally care?”