Barbour: Scale Back Afghan Presence
Politico reports:
America should slash defense spending — and consider shrinking its presence in Afghanistan, Haley Barbour said Monday night.
Barbour, a likely candidate for president in 2012, told Iowa county leaders and activists here that the GOP won't have any credibility on cutting spending if they're not willing to trim the defense budget — often considered sacrosanct for Republicans.
"Anybody who says you can't save money at the Pentagon has never been to the Pentagon," the Mississippi governor said. "We can save money on defense and if we Republicans don't propose saving money on defense, we'll have no credibility on anything else."
After the speech, Barbour told reporters that he couldn't identify specific programs that should be cut from the Pentagon budget, but claimed savings could be found across the board.
He also said that the U.S. should consider reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. "I think we need to look at that," he said when asked if the U.S. should scale back its presence.
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