Review Criticizes Pentagon Over Base Plan

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon overestimated savings from base closings by $30 billion and some of its plans for streamlining the Army, Navy and Air Force might have made them less efficient, a federal commission review the process said Friday.

In its final report, the nine-member panel also questions whether the Pentagon should have postponed the current round of base closings and consolidations, the first in a decade, until a major review of the national defense strategy was finished.
....
President Bush now must decide whether to accept the panel's plan. Last month, the president, using the commission's acronym, told reporters: "in order for the process to be nonpolitical, it's very important to make it clear that the decision of BRAC will stand, as far as I am concerned."

Bush still could reject the report altogether or send it back to the commission for more changes. Either of those options could open him up to criticism when his poll numbers are low and his administration is taking heat for its response to Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090900161.html

[krkaufman]

1. Is now the time to start bringing up Chuck Spinney...

... and out-of-control, unaudited Defense Department spending?

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript245_full.html

SPINNEY: If you look at the weapons that we're buying, they're not for the war on terrorism. The best you can say about them is that they are not designed for the threats that we face. Some of them may not work at all.

[usafguy99]

2. WTF?

"Bush still could reject the report altogether or send it back to the commission for more changes"

It's wonderful how Washington works... keep manipulating the truth until we get the "truth" that fits "our" facts.

[struggle4progress]

3. Base Closings Now In Bush's Hands

AP) WASHINGTON President Bush now must decide whether to accept a commission's proposal to close or reorganize some U.S. military bases, reject the plan altogether or send it back for more work.

The nine-member Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission forwarded its final report to the president late Thursday after signing off on roughly 86 percent of what the Pentagon had recommended as it sought to save money by getting rid of extra space in the domestic military network. <snip>

The report arrived at the White House only after the commission, in response to a federal judge's ruling, withdrew a recommendation that called for moving the 103rd Fighter Wing's jets from Connecticut's Bradley Air National Guard base to Massachusetts.

Connecticut was among a number of states that had gone to court seeking to stop the commission's plan. <snip>

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/topstories_story_252192533.html