The Week

As the cold war winds down, Congress cries, “Bring the bases home!”

Remember when your mama said to be careful what you wished for, you might get it? That’s the fix the Democratic Congress is in now vis-à-vis defense. For years they have been arguing for cuts in military spending, confident that no Republican Administration would ever take them up on it. But now Defense Secretary Richard Cheney has put forth a defense strategy that retains America’s deterrent capabilities—the very thing that brought us where we are today—while cutting that part of the budget that serves only to return members to Congress every two years. Indeed, where the Democrats have been looking at the “peace dividend” as a new bundle of money to spend, Secretary Cheney saw it as an opportunity to axe 35 useless military bases around the country. Other Cheney initiatives would eliminate outdated weapons systems such as the M-l tank, a sixty-ton heavy-armored vehicle meant mainly for use in a European land war. Last year the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee with jurisdiction over weapon systems, Carl Levin, singlehandedly saved an M-l factory in his native Michigan (where else). Already the Democrats are complaining that most of the slated closings are in Democratic areas—not surprising given their majority in Congress. Checkmate, Cheney.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

As the cold war winds down, Congress cries, “Bring the bases home!”

Remember when your mama said to be careful what you wished for, you might get it? That’s the fix the Democratic Congress is in now vis-à-vis defense. For years they have been arguing for cuts in military spending, confident that no Republican Administration would ever take them up on it. But now Defense Secretary Richard Cheney has put forth a defense strategy that retains America’s deterrent capabilities—the very thing that brought us where we are today—while cutting that part of the budget that serves only to return members to Congress every two years. Indeed, where the Democrats have been looking at the “peace dividend” as a new bundle of money to spend, Secretary Cheney saw it as an opportunity to axe 35 useless military bases around the country. Other Cheney initiatives would eliminate outdated weapons systems such as the M-l tank, a sixty-ton heavy-armored vehicle meant mainly for use in a European land war. Last year the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee with jurisdiction over weapon systems, Carl Levin, singlehandedly saved an M-l factory in his native Michigan (where else). Already the Democrats are complaining that most of the slated closings are in Democratic areas—not surprising given their majority in Congress. Checkmate, Cheney.