U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the Defense Department needs to focus on current war demands and not fret about future wars.
Meeting the war-fighting needs of the troops now and taking care of them properly when they get home must be the priority, Gates said in a speech to journalists at a seminar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
"I have noticed too much of a tendency towards what might be called Next-War-itis — the propensity of much of the defense establishment to be in favor of what might be needed in a future conflict," Gates said.
But in a world of limited resources, he said, the Pentagon must concentrate on building a military that can defeat the current enemies: smaller, terrorist groups and militias waging irregular warfare.
If it means putting off more expensive weapons for the future or adding to the stress on the Army — that is a risk worth taking, he said.
"The risk of overextending the Army is real," said Gates. "But I believe the risk is far greater — to that institution as well as to our country — if we were to fail in Iraq. That is the war we are in. That is the war we must win."
In a question-and-answer session with his audience, Gates was asked whether the United States would at some point feel compelled to take military action against Iran for its support of Shiite extremists in Iraq.
Gates said America has a number of activities under way "to deal particularly with what the Iranians were doing in support of the special groups and others in Iraq." The term "special groups" refers to extremist elements of Shiite militias that U.S. officials say are funded and trained by Iranians.
Source:Xinhua
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