Obama's military problem is getting worse

The Military is going down, but Obama is trying to make it less than what it seems by presiding over a slow motion crash. The crash has not yet happened and is avoidable, but it also foreseeable. Of concern, the latest reports out of the White House suggest that Obama's team is not yet fully aware of the dangers. If it happens, it will be a problem entirely of Obama's own making and it could have a lasting impact on the way his administration unfolds. President Obama rarely misses a chance to blame a challenge he is confronting on his predecessor. This rhetorical tic served Obama well during the campaign and probably still resonates with partisans who post anonymous comments on blogs or who suffer from chronic Bush Derangement Syndrome. Shortly after the roll-out, President Obama and his key White House team take their collective eye off the ball and are largely uninvolved in the firing of General McKiernan and the hiring of General McChrystal. Indeed, President Obama has only one substantive interaction with the battlefield commander of his most important "war of necessity" for the next four months.A pivot to East Asia brings America back to its strategic roots of protecting the world’s oceans, airspace, and outer space – the global commons.  This mission is heavily dependent on machines such as aircraft carriers, stealth fighter jets, and satellites. It is less dependent on soldiers manning a distant battlefield.  Now, since machines – aka “platforms” – are super-expensive (e.g., billions for a single carrier), this shift will accelerate the already significant embrace of cheaper unmanned vehicles – drones that patrol the skies and seas, thus ensuring humans see even less of each other.