How Much Defense Can We Cut?

If the super committee fails, defense spending will be cut by near $1 trillion over the next decade. Bradford Plumer says this would "put us squarely in the historical norm":

[Gordon Adams, a senior White House budget official for national security in the Clinton administration] provides some context. The United States has had three military “build-downs” since World War II — after Korea, after Vietnam and after the Cold War. “With Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, we’re in another build-down,” he says. He notes that between 1985 and 1996, with the end of the Cold War, military spending declined 36 percent. By comparison, a $1 trillion cut in the next decade would represent a 15 percent decline. “Compared with a $350 billion cut, that’s harder labor, definitely,” Adams says. “Is it impossible? No.”