If you find $100 billion--if you find the cut, if you meet the target that I've given you, and then you show me new military capabilities or expanded military capabilities that are actually tooth, I'll give you the money back to invest in those.
Gates explains his incentive strategy for military budget cuts.
Share
More from Robert Gates
Senator Kaine will recall the reaction when we--when I shuttered Joint Forces Command in Norfolk.
the only way I could get significant new or additional equipment to commanders in the field in weeks or months--not years--was to take control of the problem myself through special task forces and ad hoc processes.
We want everything that's possible, and a lot of things that aren't possible, in a new system.
My concern is, we don't have an overriding strategy on the part of the United States in this complex challenge over the next 20 to 30 years.
Other voices in this conversation
