The United States is set to unveil its new defence strategy on Thursday that will guide Pentagon budget cuts in coming years and is expected to end the decade-old policy of maintaining a force capable of fighting two wars at once.
President Barack Obama will make a rare appearance at the Pentagon to outline the new strategy.
The move comes after a comprehensive review of US defence strategy by the President, America's civilian and uniformed military leadership, and the Administration's national security team, the White House said.
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US to unveil new defence strategy today
The defence strategy review is likely to come up with the policy of developing a strategy of fighting and winning one war, while being able to block or spoil aggressive actions elsewhere, media reports said.
This will guide budget priorities and decisions going forward, the White House said.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the defence strategic review recognises that the US is at a turning point after a decade of war, with new challenges and opportunities that call for a reshaping of its defence priorities.
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US to unveil new defence strategy today
"To meet these new challenges under increased budget constraints, the President made clear to his team that we need to take a hard look at all of our defence spending to ensure that spending cuts are surgical and that are top priorities are met," Carney told reporters.
Carney said the review is ongoing and will ensure that the US is able to meet the challenges of this moment responsibly and emerge even stronger, in a manner that preserves its global leadership, maintains its military superiority and keeps faith with its troops, military families and veterans.
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US to unveil new defence strategy today
"The President has been deeply involved in this process. He's personally engaged in the defence strategy," he said, adding that Obama has been consulting his top security and pentagon advisors on this issue.
"Having said that, I think it's important to point out that the cuts in defence spending that we've discussed around which the defence strategic review is being written about now were agreed to on a broadly bipartisan basis -- roughly $489 billion over 10 years."
"And the important part of this process is that the strategy come first and the reductions come -- are driven by the strategy. They're not across the board; they're not random. And that's certainly the approach the President will take," he said.
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