US defense industry battles cuts

While there are those who describe the mounting national debt and the dysfunctional politics as the United States' biggest national security threat, what I heard in Washington told a totally different story: That the biggest potential threats are defense cuts and imminent and looming threats from all parts of the world.

That is probably why days before US President Barack Obama announced former Republican senator Chuck Hagel would be his new defense secretary, his opponents had already gone on the offensive vowing to block Hagel's confirmation.

Hagel's "crimes" are, according to his critics, his lack of loyalty toward Israel, lack of toughness on Iran, lack of resolve to use force, and an unwillingness to call some Muslim organizations terrorists.

He has voiced misgivings about the pro-Israel influence on foreign policy, which has been seen by some, such as Senator John Cornyn of Texas, as an attack on those "who view that relationship as a special relationship, one that's important to our national security and stability in the region".

And when it comes to Iran, Hamas or Hezbollah, US politicians can only become popular by sounding tough and nasty, regardless of how infeasible and ridiculous that might be.

However, I believe that there is a conspiracy behind all these attacks on Hagel. It is a conspiracy plotted by the defense industry, as Hagel's criticism of excessive defense spending would be unfavorable for the industry, despite the record exports that have been boosted by arms sales to Asia.

On Monday, after a talk at the Brookings Institution by Under Secretary of Defense Robert Hale, a defense industry representative publicly expressed his sadness over the uncertainty produced by the shrinking defense budget, which is still twice as big as the peak spending during Cold War and equal to the next top 10 spending nations combined.