Gibbons warns of military depletion

Denise Cardinal

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998 | 10:04 a.m.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., told a local group of defense contractors and military officials Tuesday that the United States has less military infrastructure, troops and weapons than in 1991 during the Persian Gulf War.

Recently appointed to the House National Security Subcommittee on Military Procurement, Gibbons held a forum to discuss recent budget cuts in the military and the effects of those cuts on a pending second conflict in the Middle East.

"There is no doubt in our minds that we're putting our nation at risk," Gibbons told the group gathered at the Clark County Government Center. "And the risk will continue to grow in areas that will affect the defense of the nation."

Joining Gibbons was Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, who echoed Gibbons' sentiments.

"The No. 1 obligation of government is to protect its people," Hunter said. "After we won the Gulf War, it became irrelevant and we cut all that stuff back."

Hunter distributed a report from the U.S. Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare that described the Clinton administration's plans for a bombing campaign on Iraq as "an instant-gratification bombing campaign that would neither destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction operational capabilities nor touch its main production lines in Libya and Sudan."

Some budget statistics that Gibbons and Hunter shared at the meeting include:

* In 1962, defense spending comprised almost 50 percent of the U.S. budget. In 1999, defense spending will make up about 15 percent of the total budget.

* The yearly shortfall for military spending is about $60 billion.

* Since 1991, the number of Army divisions has been cut from 18 to 10, and the number of fighter plane divisions has been cut from 24 to 13. In the Gulf War, eight Army divisions were used.

* If the military's budget were to stay the same as it was in 1986, it would be $100 billion more than it is today -- which includes accounting for inflation.

Gibbons, who is a member of the Air Force National Guard and flew reconnaissance missions in 1991 in the Persian Gulf, is exempt from service in Iraq because he's a member of Congress.

He has indicated, however, that he will volunteer and told the SUN last week that he was concerned about a second war in the Persian Gulf -- but not because of America's lack of weapons. Rather, he said, he was hesitant to support Clinton's advances on Iraq without more support from allies.

"In 1990, Bush had Russia and the Arab and European nations aligned," he said. "Hussein can challenge a weak foreign policy. I see him waiting until the last minute and saying, 'If you'll lighten up the economic sanctions, you can inspect our weapons.'"

Hunter complimented Clark County commissioners Mary Kincaid and Myrna Williams for supporting Nellis Air Force Base. He cited an example of how the city officials of San Francisco limited the number of naval ships that could enter the bay. That decision, Hunter said, was made "because of that anti-nuke thing."

Gibbons ended with his explanation of why the defense portion of the budget has been so severely cut.

"To pay for social programs, the only department large enough to pay for them is the defense department," he said, adding that in times of peace it's hard to lobby for the necessity of a strong military. "Unfortunately, it comes from the security of our nation."