European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Looking for a Mission by Stephen Engelberg new York times As the annual ritual of presenting and setting the defense department budget to Congress approaches the Pentagon is searching or new ways to help justify its spending plans government and private experts agree that the threat of War with the soviet on is diminishing As a result the nations military services argue that a portion of the Pentagon budget in the 1990s must be devoted to combating drugs and being prepared to bring  military Power to hear in the third world specifically. Pentagon officials say that actions politically popular in the United c ladies. Such As the invasion of Panama and the dispatch of a Navy aircraft Carrier to the coast of Colombia to detect planes carrying drugs Are harbingers of a new Era and arguments against Sharp cuts in the Pentagon budget. In addition the officials say. The soviet military forces As now constituted continue to represent a formidable opponent that must be matched even if the prospects of a confrontation Are at a Tow Point rep. Les Aspin d-wla., chairman of the House armed services committee said in an interview recently that Only massive repression in the soviet Union and a Complete change in its foreign and Security policies could reverse the momentum in Congress toward cuts in the military budget a the  Aspin said Quot is going through a real soul searching they Are looking for a Mission Quot �?�1 know the Pentagon thinks that Panama is going to change the Outlook on defense  he continued. Quot they re looking at this As a Way too gue for a robust defense budget. In fact it s marginal. I done to think it will change the size of the budget but it May change the shape Quot Joed some Independent analysts said in interviews that the army a successful invasion of Panama using Abile. Lightly armed troops suggests the possibility of greater troop cuts from a military largely trained and armed for a strike in Europe by soviet troops using conventional weapons Pentagon officials disagree one official said Panama is a Good o ample for the budget debate because Quot it proves we re Worth the   Panama operation another official said will be an important illustration when defense Secretary Dick Cheney Pentagon faces Uphill budget Battle helicopters Are unloaded in Colombia where they will help fight the drug War. Explains his new vision for the military Pentagon officials noted that although the soviet threat May be lessening countries like Iran Iraq and Syria have begun an ambitious arms buildup that includes ballistic missiles and chemical weapons Syria Lor example has 4,000 modern Battle tanks and a formidable air Force while Iraq late last year tested its first intermediate Orange missile As the United states re orients its military thinking Pentagon officials see new uses for old weapons battleships intended Lor Shore bombardment in a conventional War might be used to launch a cruise missile strike at terrorist training bases they said. The Bush administration s budget Lor a  jdst0ve it a special effects my amp keep the m0hey the 1991 fiscal year which begins oct. 1, asks Congress for $295 billion about $4 billion More than was approved this year but about $6 billion or 2 percent less than what would be needed to keep up with inflation. The administration is expected to submit its proposed budget to Congress on Jan 29. Despite presidential requests for More Money each year Congress has reduced the Pentagon a budget by an average of 2 percent after accounting for inflation each year since 1985 Many Lav makers have already said they believe that More favourable relations with the soviet Union mean that the Congress can now extract a larger Quot peace dividend Quot from the military budget than is anticipated in the Bush administration s proposal sen. William s. Cohen. R Maine a member of the Senate armed services committee warned that the Pentagon will have to do More than explain the Panama operation to deflect the pressure for deeper cuts. Quot we want to know what is driving the  Cohen said. Quot is there a conceptual rationale to support Why we arrived on a 2 percent Cut if there s not. We re going to have trouble on the Senate floor because some will argue. If you c3n accept 2 percent Why not 4 percent9 Quot rep. Dave Mccurdy a okla. Who serves on the armed services committee says that the real test will be How Cheney presents the Case for the Pentagon s expensive strategic weapons systems like the b-2 stealth bomber. Quot if he says we need to have the b-2 to be secure As a nation i think he will lose Quot he said sen Sam Nunn. A chairman of the Senate armed services committee said at a news conference that he believed Panama was unique and thus was not instructive As Congress considers the future direction of the american military. Quot it s not like any other place that we will have a Challenge in the world Quot he said. Quot it s unique in the sense that we had people on the ground we had bases there. We had 13,000 people permanently deployed there. We knew where All the facilities were. We knew exactly what to were facing in terms of the Materiel and equipment. We had the ability of getting forces in there in  Nunn said the Panama operation had two Clear lessons the need for better intelligence gathering and the usefulness of lighter weapons. He noted that the army moved its older lighter tanks into Panama rather than the More modern m1 Battle tank. Quot we be been building very heavy forces Quot geared to planning for hypothetical War in Europe he said. Quot we re going to be in a changing environment now and the army is going to have a real Challenge to have lighter forces but forces that Are still lethal enough to do the  Cohen said he believes that the Navy will play a major role in delivering . Forces to regional conflicts around the world. He also saw Panama As less than a Universal example for the . Military. The Navy had no role in the Panama operation Cohen said but Quot we need mobility and that Means fewer land based forces in Europe and a greater sea orientation More  Lawrence Korb a Pentagon official in the Reagan administration who is now at Brookings institution a research organization in Washington said the Success of lightly armoured army troops in Panama Points up the potential for More far reaching troop cuts than the Pentagon currently envisions. Korb who has emerged As a prominent advocate of budget Stringency said Quot this was the biggest american military operation since Vietnam. How Many troops did we use Twenty five thousand. If that s the Case Why do we need More than 1.5 million men and women in uniform Why do we need a b-2 bomber we did t even use an aircraft earner in Panama or the m-1  in response a Pentagon official said the troops sent to Panama were appropriate for that operation and that the military still needs to have on hand the firepower to counter countries with heavy armament. He said several countries including the soviet military retain such capabilities. Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes sunday january 21,1990