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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Both the NATO chief and a former United States presidential candidate on Thursday welcomed plans announced by the U.S. leadership to make its military “leaner” but keep it “agile, flexible, and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats.”

Flanked by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other military officers, President Barack Obama, the first president to address journalists in the Pentagon briefing room, unveiled a new military strategy to make the U.S. military “leaner” while maintaining its superiority as it switches focus to the Asia-Pacific.

Welcoming the announcement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement, “The review emphasizes the importance of modern capabilities, greater flexibility and effective partnerships,” adding, “In an unpredictable world, the United States’ affirmation that our transatlantic partnership remains indispensable to the security of all Allies is key.”

“As President Obama said, the U.S. will continue investing in NATO because the Alliance has demonstrated time and time again — most recently in Libya — that it is a force multiplier,” noted Rasmussen.

“We have the opportunity and the responsibility to look ahead to the force we need for the future,” said Obama as he highlighted the receding of wars where the U.S. forces prevailed.

Stating that America is the greatest force for freedom and security that the world has ever known, Obama added, “In no small measure, that’s because we’ve built the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped military in history — and as commander in chief, I’m going to keep it that way.”

“Our military will be leaner,” said Obama, cautioning, “but the world must know — the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with armed forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats.”

The strategy is designed to accommodate at least $450 billion in defense cuts over the next decade. However, there is an additional threat to the Pentagon budget of another $500 billion at the end of this year after Congress failed to agree on deficit reduction following a debt-ceiling deal in August.

“We have to renew our economic strength here at home, which is the foundation of our strength around the world. That includes putting our fiscal house in order,” noted the president. Anticipating criticism from his Republican rivals in the current election year, Obama stressed that the defense budget would keep growing, but at a slower pace.

Reacting to the Obama announcement, Republican Sen. John McCain said in a statement, “I understand the need for reductions in defense spending, but we must also address the broader cultural problem plaguing our defense establishment: the waste, inefficiency and ineffective programs that result from an overly consolidated military-industrial-Congressional complex.”

Lambasting fellow lawmakers, McCain said, “We must cut Congressional earmarks and pork-barrel spending on programs that the military does not request and does not need,” adding, “We must eliminate the shameless cost overruns that characterize too many of our defense programs.”

At the Pentagon, Obama reiterated previous comments during his visit to Canberra, Australia, that the Asia-Pacific was now a top priority for the U.S. “As I made clear in Australia, we’ll be strengthening our presence in the Asia-Pacific, and budget reductions will not come at the expense of this critical region.”

With the Iraq war over and the troop drawdown already under way in Afghanistan, President Obama said that the military “will no longer need to be sized to support the large-scale, long-term stability operations that dominated military priorities and force-generation over the past decade.”

Addressing the issue of veterans, he called it a “profound responsibility” of not only himself but also others in the Pentagon, to “only send them [military service persons] into harm’s way when it’s absolutely necessary, to give them the equipment and the support that they need to get the job done, and to care for them and their families when they come home.”

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