The Foundry

Posts by ‘Eric Sayers’

Eric Sayers

• Beijing’s Capabilities Are Concern

  Posted September 22nd, 2009 at 11:04am in American Leadership, Protect America with 7 comments

  Senior U.S. officials made two major statements last week concerning the implications of China’s military modernization:On Tuesday, Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence, released the 2009 National Intelligence Strategy Document, identifying Chinas military modernization and natural resources-focused diplomacy as a “complex global challenge.” Then on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Gates discussed how China’s military capabilities [...] More

• Short-Term Thinking Threatens Long-Term Interests In Pacific

  Posted September 17th, 2009 at 11:32am in Protect America with 0 comments

  This week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates poignantly described the emerging high-end asymmetrical challenge that China’s military poses to the United States: Their investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, and ballistic missiles could threaten America’s primary way to project power and help allies in the Pacific – in particular our forward air [...] More

• Space Program Deserves Full Funding

  Posted June 24th, 2009 at 10:02am in Protect America with 6 comments

  Like cyberspace, space remains a critical enabler of America’s military power. Whether for navigating Navy destroyers through narrow straits, or guiding smart bombs to their targets, the military relies heavily on a strong presence in space. For this reason, potential adversaries, according to Secretary Gates, are investing “in weapons geared to neutralize our advantages.” This [...] More

• North Korea Threatens A “Merciless Offensive”

  Posted June 9th, 2009 at 6:51pm in Protect America with 5 comments

  Consistent with the highly belligerent posture North Korea has taken in the past three weeks, and the “rapid-fire series of provocations“ it has initiated since the beginning of 2009, Pyongyang yet again chose to escalate its rhetoric, this time threatening to use its nuclear weapons in a “merciless offensive” if provoked. After testing its second [...] More

• Let’s Have a Transparent Defense Debate

  Posted May 7th, 2009 at 12:05pm in Ongoing Priorities, Protect America, Rule of Law with 5 comments

  This afternoon, the Department of Defense will conduct detailed briefs on the FY 2010 defense budget request. While much of what Secretary Gates’ has proposed for the military budget in FY 2010 and in the coming years has already been made public, today’s proceedings should provide a much clearer picture. Here is what we already know:[...] More

• Chairman Mullen: China Military Buildup “Very Much Focused” on United States

  Posted May 6th, 2009 at 10:34am in Protect America with 16 comments

  While China continues to insist its military expansion is purely defensive in nature, yesterday the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs expressed his doubts: “They are developing capabilities that are very maritime focused, maritime and air focused, and in many ways, very much focused on us.” Even though China’s long-term intentions are still very much unknown, the [...] More

• Groundwork Laid for Massive Defense Spending Cuts

  Posted March 5th, 2009 at 3:34pm in Protect America with 8 comments

  During yesterday’s press conference on government contracting reform, President Obama took aim at the defense industry, declaring that “We are spending money on things that we don’t need, and we are paying more than we need to pay, and that’s completely unacceptable.” Fair enough. We more than agree that it is time to assess the capacity [...] More

• Inhofe Senate Resolution Provides Clear Vision for Defense Spending

  Posted February 12th, 2009 at 6:15pm in Protect America with 8 comments

  This afternoon Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced a joint resolution to maintain defense spending at 4 percent of our nation’s GDP. Heritage Distinguished Fellow and former Senator from Missouri, Jim Talent, commented that the legislation was “vital for America. There is a huge shortfall between what the military is spending [...] More

• Congress Must Save Vital ‘Responsive Space’ Program

  Posted November 7th, 2008 at 8:01am in Protect America with 0 comments

  A recent article I wrote for Armed Forces Journal discusses the Pentagon’s efforts to maintain space dominance amid the challenges of emerging peer competitors. The Pentagon’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office stands at the forefront of an effort to revolutionize the way the U.S. builds and deploys satellites. However, only one year after the ORS office [...] More