US Army leaders have blasted the Obama administration for its military policy in the Middle East, contending that Washington still needs to keep in and send ground troops to the Middle East.
Expressing frustration with President Barack Obama over his conviction that ground troops in the Middle East are not as important as before, outgoing Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday that "it's probably an unsupportable abundance of optimism…the wish that we could win wars [from] the air and from the sea."
"While optimism is a nice trait to have, it's probably not the best foundational basis upon which you build a military strategy," McHugh said at a press briefing during the Association of the United States Army conference.
"And the thing that is most frustrating for me...If the last 18 to 20 months haven't proven the necessity of a viable land force, I'm not sure know what will," added the Army's top civilian.
McHugh was referring to a plan by the US Army to reduce its troops from 490,000 to 450,000 by the end of 2017 because of Pentagon budget cuts under the 2011 Budget Control Act.
In 2011, it was decided that the cuts of $500 billion be implemented over 10 years, if Congress failed to resolve differences over tax and spending reform.
After lawmakers could not resolve the issue, the cuts began in 2013 on top of cuts of $487 billion the US Defense Department was already slated to take, making the services greatly reduce their training and maintenance budgets, cut forces and take other steps.
However, the cuts were partially relieved by a bipartisan budget deal in 2014 and 2015.
Although Republicans and the White House are currently negotiating over the possibility of reaching another deal, the outcome is far from certain.
Also on Monday, New Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, said that the US is implementing the cuts while stability is decreasing in the world.
"The velocity of instability is increasing as we sit here," he said. "At the end of the day, the first and opening shots will likely [be] fired from the sea or the air, but the final shots are usually delivered on the ground."
The Pentagon’s budget cuts might go even further unless they are stopped, otherwise the Army would have to reduce its troops to 420,000 by 2019, both officials warned.