AlHijjah 19, 1432, Nov 15, 2011, SPA -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that looming budget cuts would be devastating to the Defense Department and pose a risk to national security, according to UPI. If the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the congressional supercommittee charged with finding ways to cut federal spending, fails to reach consensus on reducing the debt, the U.S. government will be forced to make mandatory cuts. Panetta said the automatic cuts -- known as sequestration -- that would go into effect Jan. 1, 2013 would amount to a 23 percent across-the-board cut in defense programs. In a letter Monday to Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz. and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Panetta said the roughly $1 trillion of mandatory cuts to defense would curtail shipbuilding and construction contracts and result in the furlough of civilian personnel and contractors. "The impacts of these cuts would be devastating," Panetta said in the letter. "Rough estimates suggest after ten years of these cuts, we would have the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest number of ships since 1915, and the smallest Air Force in its history."
