100,000 US Soliders Dumped

From the BBC:
"US to cut almost 100,000 troops"

The US will cut almost 100,000 troops as part of its plans for a "smaller, leaner" military, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has announced. Unveiling a restructure of the armed forces, Mr Panetta said the US would boost special forces and retain the ability to defeat "any enemy on land". The Pentagon is facing cuts of $487bn (£310bn) over the next 10 years. In five years, the Army will drop from a peak of 570,000 to 490,000, and the marines be cut by 20,000, to 182,000. Leon Panetta admitted this had been tough work, but he called this a strategic turning point, arguing the changes were necessary to meet 21st century challenges. A decade of war has seen ballooning defence budgets. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, it makes sense to take stock and see how best to reconfigure what is still the world's most formidable military. Focus would shift from large-scale conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to areas of key national interest, he said, including a strengthened commitment in Asia. US special forces that were previously committed to Iraq will now be used around the globe, Mr Panetta said. Such elite teams have become a key part of US strategy, killing Osama Bin Laden last year and rescuing hostages this week in Somalia. Mr Panetta said there would be funding for a floating base that would serve special operations forces as well as drone units.

^ I don't see Panetta actually making the military into what he is trying to say it will be. It seems like Communism - good on paper, but not going to happen. Clinton kicked out soldiers from the military in the 1990s and did an awful job - which made us less secure. I get the feeling that Obama is going to do the same here. ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16751973