Downsizing the Pentagon budget; then, what suicide bombers & rampage shooters have in common

Should the U.S. slide off the fiscal cliff in a few weeks, over $55 billion in spending cuts a year for the next decade will kick in at the Pentagon. That amount added to the $487 billion in cuts over 10 years that were announced last year will force the military to review and revise its strategies as the reductions in spending will certainly impact weapons and technology programs and how the military provides for its troops and civilian workers.  While the general consensus in Washington is that defense spending must be reduced by as much as $100 billion according to the White House, there is debate over how cuts can be achieved without compromising national security.  We’ll start off this hour of Radio Times talking with GORDON ADAMS, a professor at American University and a defense budget expert at the Stimson Center.  Then, a conversation with University of Alabama criminal justice professor ADAM LANKFORD about the similarities in motive between suicide bombers and rampage shooters.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite