Summary of the Presentation by
GENERAL JOHN P. ABIZAID
On The Report of the National Defense Panel
Robust American Involvement Globally Needed, not Retrenchment
Former CENTCOM Commanding General, John Abizaid, presented the findings of the National Defense Panel he co-chaired with former Secretary of Defense, William Perry. The Panel was convened to assess the conclusions of the most recent Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), but it’s findings and recommendations went beyond that narrow construct and assessed the rapidly changing global political order.
The Panel concluded that as a result of recent cutbacks in defense expenditures, “our current and potential allies and adversaries…. question our commitment and resolve.” The NDP drew a stark contrast between the growing threats to American interests worldwide, and the declining U.S. defense posture. The Panel assessed that our current strategy and force structure was not adequate to deal with the growing threats, including Chinese cyber and maritime aggressiveness, North Korean bellicosity, Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq. Notably, the Panel explicitly identified the threat posed by “Islamic Terrorism”, a term the current administration prefers not to use.
The Panel concluded that the current international order “is not self sustaining; it requires robust American engagement”. While acknowledging the cost involved with high level American global leadership, the NDP concluded that such a cost was, “nowhere near what America paid in the first half of the 20th century when conflict was allowed to fester and grow until it rose to the level of general war.” The NDP made what surely will be a controversial recommendation, that the current and future American administrations must continue to pursue a “two-war strategy”. That is, American forces need to be prepared to prosecute a major war, while coping with several other serious threats simultaneously. The Panel called for significant increases in Naval and Air Forces, no additional reductions to Army force levels, continued spending on ISR, and modernizing the nation’s strategic forces.
The Panel forcefully argued for termination of the “sequester”, that if employed would result in significant reductions of U.S. force structure capabilities and readiness. We should note that the makeup of the panel was very bi-partisan and reflected a mixture of experienced military and civilian national security experts.
Attached please find the full report of the National Defense Panel. We highly recommend that you read carefully the 7 page executive summary, and at least peruse the 45 page report itself.
Here is the link to the full report: CLICK HERE
Note: General Abizaid also provided our audience of 200+ participants a thorough analysis of the emerging global national security order, with a heavy focus on the events in the Middle East. However, this portion of the General’s talk was off the record– we will see if he can provide a summary of his views for the National Security Forum in the future.