martin14 martin14:
No surprise Obama will cut the hell out of Defense.
Clinton, Carter, Truman, Roosevelt...
Well, to be fair, FDR did spend more money, but it was nowhere near enough.
I wonder what the price for American withdrawal will be this time.

Well let's be fair here. The economy is on the ropes, the dept is through the roof and they are done messing in the Middle East for the foreseeable future outside of some bombing campaigns against Syria and Iran or some naval engagements with the Iranian navy.
Focusing on Asia makes more sense as they are the coming economic and military power blocks and frankly, they pose little (outide of nuclear) physical threat as the naval power projection is quite limited.
The US cannot have such a massive amped up military in its current economic circumstances and frankly, I've no doubt that the military was heavily involved on deciding what its priorities ought to be as well as being more economically
responsible.
Don't forget that the US, with its ongoing economic difficulties is showing weakness, and any military leader worth their salt should recognize that in combination with keep a powerful military you need a strong economy and if defence can find savings to help reduce the deficit and debt, then it makes strategic sense to do that.