報道：美國陸軍規模將削減至二戰前水平

The New York Times says the Obama administration is preparing to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War II.

Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Times Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will call for reducing the number of soldiers to between 440,000 and 450,000 over the coming years.

The Pentagon was already planning to cut the size of the Army, which had grown to 570,000 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Hagel will also call for eliminating an entire fleet of Air Force attack aircraft designed to destroy tanks deployed by the former Soviet Union.

The proposed cuts will be announced on Monday.

The Times says Hagel's proposal reflects a new push to reduce overall government spending, as well as President Barack Obama's pledge to end the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Officials say the reductions will result in a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for lengthy foreign operations.《紐約時報》報道說，奧巴馬政府正準備把美國陸軍削減到1940年第二次世界大戰爆發前以來的最小規模。

不透露姓名的五角大樓官員對《紐時》說，國防部長哈格爾將要求在今後幾年內，把美國陸軍官兵人數削減到44萬到45萬之間。

五角大樓之前已經計劃削減陸軍兵力。美國陸軍在2001年9/11恐怖襲擊事件後擴大到了57萬人。

哈格爾還將要求廢棄空軍整個A-10攻擊機編隊，這種飛機的設計用途是摧毀前蘇聯的坦克。

這些削減計劃將在星期一宣佈。

《紐約時報》說，哈格爾的建議反映了削減整體政府開支的努力，也反映了奧巴馬總統提出的結束成本高昂的伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭的承諾。有關官員說，削減方案將使美軍保持打敗任何敵人的能力，但這種兵力規模太小，難以支撐曠日持久的海外行動。