Oklahoma's senior senator says the U.S. military is suffering – severely – under the administration of Barack Obama.
"We have a hollow force," Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., told the told the Norman Transcript in a visit to the Oklahoma newspaper's office.
The senator was in the region for a visit to Tinker Air Force Base regarding a federal commission assigned to examine cost efficiency in the military.
He told the newspaper he wants the Senate Arms Service Committee to hear the report.
"It's a good group to come in and tell the truth," he said.
Inhofe said the U.S. military needs to be rebuilt, and if there's a need to cut spending, the "bloated bureaucracies" are a good place to start.
He said he supports a strong national defense because it's "what the Constitution says we should do."
Inhofe told the Oklahoma newspaper he's one of the senators willing to hold up the budget to fight Obamacare. He also said he wants to end the war on fossil fuels and to crack down on regulations.
The senator, who has written a book on global warming, "The Greatest Hoax," said he would like to remain in the Senate to see a GOP majority.
His comments on the military come as budgets are being slashed and operations restricted because of the budgetary priorities under the Obama administration.
In a WND commentary, Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, author of "Dead Men Flying," blasted Obama's "emasculation, socialization and feminization of our military."
He described it as a greater threat to the U.S. than the economy.
"Can you see him as a fighter pilot a la the Bushes? Or commanding a PT boat as did John Kennedy? This is not a man I would want with me in combat and neither should America," Brady wrote.
Get your copy of "The Greatest Hoax" now.
"Under the leadership of the Obama/[Robert] Gates/[Michael] Mullen trinity, our military has suffered as never before. Gates supervised the waste and fiscal incompetence at the Pentagon (millions of dollars lost). He instituted an insane op tempo (60 out of 80 months deployed is not unusual), causing unprecedented suicide and PTSD rates among soldiers and depression and anxiety in their families. Military pay cuts are coming, and the administration actually lost graves and urns at Arlington. There is an effort to raise health insurance premiums for retirees. The number of stolen top-secret documents is unmatched in our history. On the silly side, Gates' Pentagon actually considered giving medals to soldiers for not shooting!" he said.
"On the battlefield, they have stripped the premier combat life saver, Aeromedical Evacuation, from the medics. This is the first time a medical resource has been so usurped since the Civil War, and I have heard horror stories from the battlefield on delayed reaction times. (I actually had a soldier from Iraq turn his back on me when I told him I was a Dust Off pilot in Vietnam; he said forces had failed to react in time to save his friend's life.) It may be a surprise to Vietnam veterans that the Congress authorized a program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and honor its veterans; but it will be no surprise that Gates drastically cut its funds. We will soon be longing for the 'hollow military' of the '70s."
He continued, calling the lack of military expertise in the Obama administration stunning.
"Obama's replacement for Gates, Leon Panetta, had an astonishing response in answer to a query concerning why we ignored the plea for help from the Americans about to be slaughtered in Benghazi: 'You don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what is going on.' Excuse me. Did we not know that Americans were under attack and pleading for help? What else do you need to know? By his standard you would never go. In combat and chaos you are never sure of what is going on. Is it the standard of this administration that American should never risk lives to save lives? Risking lives to save lives is the essence of our wars!"
He warned of the consequences: "America is impotent without a strong military – and so is American policy. Our military strength is the one sure force for peace in the world. It deters the bad guys – not only from attacking us but others as well. Weakness emboldens evil, and ultimately we will be drawn into some disaster whether we like it or not. All the sheep and chickens in the world – and many liberals – would like for everyone to be vegetarians – won't happen, there are too many wolves out there. Yet how could any objective, informed person not see the deliberate dismantling of our military? Obama personally authored sequestration, which will bench us from the field of world affairs."