Pentagon chief Jim Mattis ‘shocked’ by deterioration in US military readiness
Washington — Pentagon chief Jim Mattis told legislators on Monday he was "shocked" by the state of the US military’s readiness, blaming legal budget caps and the grind of 16 years of constant war. The defence secretary also warned that North Korea had become the most urgent threat to peace and security, and said — without giving details — that America had to do things differently in Afghanistan. Pointing to Obama-era budget caps known as sequestration, Mattis said limits on military spending had left troops at greater risk and blocked important new programmes — even though the defence budget is already greater than that of the next seven countries combined. "I retired from military service three months after sequestration took effect," Mattis, a former Marine general, told the House armed services committee. "Four years later, I returned to the Department (of Defence), and I have been shocked by what I’ve seen about our readiness to fight…. "No enemy in the field has done more to ha...
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