Zakaria Hails Gates Budget Proposal

In this week’s Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria lauds Robert Gates’ budget plan, asking: Is the defense secretary a genius? The proposal begins “a much-needed process of rethinking American defense strategy after the Cold War,” he writes, taking budgeting back from a “a dreamland, where ever-more-elaborate weapons are built without regard to enemies, costs or trade-offs.” Gates rightly focuses on “two competing imperatives”: small yet complex conflicts in difficult terrain (Iraq, Afghanistan); versus deterrence and preserving the peace in global sea lanes against such marauders as the Somali pirates.