Graham: Obama budget ‘guts our defense’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) attacked President Obama’s proposed budget, saying the administration’s plan to shrink the size of the armed forces “guts our defense.”

{mosads}”What if the leader of North Korea woke up tomorrow and said ‘it’s time to take the South?’ 440,000 members of the U.S. Army is a gutted Army,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning. “This budget by President Obama guts our defense. It is the smallest Army since 1940, the smallest Navy since 1950, the smallest Air Force in modern history.”

Graham, a leading defense hawk who’s facing a potentially competitive primary, has been especially critical of nearly every suggestion the Obama administration has made in regards to foreign policy and defense.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) pushed back during the show, arguing that technological advances meant the military was more efficient and doesn’t need as many troops.

“Numbers alone don’t tell the story. We’ve got to make certain we have the very best military, well-trained, and that we’ve got the best technology to back up our national defense but at the same time acknowledge the reality. We are not going to, I hope we’re not going to engage in another land war like Iraq or Afghanistan, a longterm commitment that has cost too many lives and treasure,” he said.