wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Until just a few weeks ago, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was known simply as a former high school football captain, an American patriot who joined the Army after 9/11, a husband, a son, and a father of two. Now, he’s a prisoner at a detention facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan in an incident that’s been called one of the worst war crimes of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. As new facts about Bales' life emerge — including details about foot and head injuries and a mild traumatic brain injury he suffered — it appears that this could shape into a complicated legal case for the Army.

After ten years of war and expanded spending, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta outlined a series of military budget cuts for the next decade totaling $487 billion. Among these cost-saving measures are limiting pay raises for troops, increasing health insurance fees for military retirees, and closing bases in the U.S. These proposed cuts would be in addition to a previously established drawdown of troops and army personnel over the next five years.

Elisabeth Bumiller, Pentagon correspondent for The New York Times, talks about potential cuts to the U.S. defense budget and what it means for the 21st century U.S. military.

Try The New York Times budget cutting tool here.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is expected to announce plans this week to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Pentagon's budget. The cuts, precipitated by both the United States' fiscal situation and a deal passed to raise the debt ceiling last summer, will shrink the military so it will no longer be able to sustain two ground wars at once. The Pentagon will trim about $450 billion, or about 8 percent of its budget. However, it may be forced to cut an additional $500 billion if lawmakers on Capitol Hill go through with deeper reductions. Defense hawks say cutting $1 trillion from the Pentagon's budget would have a deleterious impact on national security.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is considering drastic cuts in military spending, including slashing retirement benefits and a round of base closings. Panetta has been ordered to cut more than $450 billion of the Pentagon budget over the next decade and has been under intense political pressure to make the cuts. The yearly defense budget has doubled since the 9/11 attacks. Panetta said it is possible to reshape the military in order to reduce the budget while still defending national interests.

Leon Panetta began his term as defense secretary on July 1, 2011. In the less than two weeks since, he's already visited Iraq and Afghanistan and set a new tone — and agenda — for the Pentagon. Though he was friendly with his predecessor, Robert Gates, Panetta has not been shy about publicly changing the goals for America's two wars. 

U.S., British, and French coalition forces began Operation Odyssey Dawn Saturday, firing missiles into Libya to enforce a U.N. mandated no-fly zone. Tanks and air defenses were targeted to curb Col. Moammar Gadhafi's deadly assault on rebel forces. A building in Gadhafi's compound reportedly was hit by a missile, though the Pentagon insists this is not an attempt to overthrow Gadhafi. The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller looks at the weekend's events and talks about the Pentagon's plan.

This is the fifth edition of Wave of Change, a special podcast from The Takeaway, covering the mass protests in Egypt and the consequences for the wider Arab world, hosted by John Hockenberry with Celeste Headlee.

In this episode, get up to date on all the events that transpired over the weekend in Egypt; in an exclusive interview, Elisabeth Bumiller of The New York Times takes us inside the generational divide in the Egyptian Army; and, Bush administration deputy national security advisor Elliot Abrams tells us why he thinks George W. Bush's "freedom agenda" was right for the Arab world.

Violence is on the rise in Pakistan. Twelve days of attacks across the country have left well over 150 people dead, and there are no signs yet that security forces are going to be able to beat back the militants. A suicide car bombing targeted a police station in the city of Peshawar this morning. The BBC's Aleem Maqbool joins us from Islamabad, Pakistan. 

And directly next door, in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has denied allegations of fraud in the recent presidential election and claimed he won a simple majority of votes. Now, according to Elisabeth Bumiller of The New York Times, the election results may turn out to show no single victor, meaning a run-off election could be announced shortly. She joins us with a look at the potential run-off and the political problem this would pose for the Obama Administration.

For more, read Elisabeth Bumiller's article, "Karzai Aide Says Afghan Runoff Vote Is Likely," in today's New York Times.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently delivered what many described as a surprisingly honest and sober analysis of the current situation for the war in Afghanistan. But predicting the road ahead seemed more difficult for Gates.

In a piece she co-authored in today's New York Times, Pentagon Correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller describes an Obama administration openly conflicted about the war in Afghanistan.

In advance of President Obama's speech on national security, a report has leaked out that may strengthen opposition to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report indicates that 74 of the 534 prisoners released from Guantanamo so far have returned to terrorism or militant activity. Joining The Takeaway is Elizabeth Bumiller, a reporter for the New York Times who has been following this story.

For more, read Elizabeth Bumiller's article, 1 in 7 Freed Detainees Rejoins Fight, Report Finds, in today's New York Times.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has unveiled his budget plan for the Pentagon. There are a broad range of cuts to weapons spending and big boosts to new technology that are supposed to help battle the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates didn't just spend money, though, he also took a red pen to President Obama's budget line for a new helicopter. Paul Hughes, senior program officer at the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention at the United States Institute for Peace joins New York Times Reporter Elisabeth Bumiller to break the new budget plan down.

The 2010 Department of Defense Budget Proposal
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announces some major cuts (and a couple of increases) in his 2010 budget. View other highlights from the speech, in pictures, after the jump.


Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Pentagon press briefing, April 6, 2009 (Cherie Cullen/Department of Defense)

Continue viewing...

New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller and Anthony Corrado, professor of government at Colby College, talk about public financing in the general election.