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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The top U.S. defense official on Tuesday argued against proposed Administration defense budget cuts, cautioning they would affect overall military inventory that American forces desperately need due to the ongoing wars.

Addressing an audience at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, Gates minced no words. “The overarching goal will be to preserve a U.S. military capable of meeting crucial national security priorities even if fiscal pressure requires reductions in that force’s size,” he said. “I’ve said repeatedly that I’d rather have a smaller, but superbly capable military than a larger, hollow, less capable one.”

President Barack Obama has proposed to cut $400 billions over the next decade from security agency budgets, but observers feel the big chunk of cuts would come from the Defense Department.

Gates, who is relinquishing his post next month, went down memory lane to hit out at Washington policy makers saying, “Our record of predicting where we will use military force since Vietnam is perfect — we have never once gotten it right.”

Answering questions after his speech, Gates said, “There isn’t a single instance: Grenada, Panama, the first Gulf War, the Balkans, Haiti, you can just keep going through the list, where we knew and planned for such a conflict six months in advance.”

Citing the Mideast group Hezbollah as having more missiles and rockets than most states and possibly chemical or biological warheads, Gates cautioned, “We need to have in mind the greatest possible flexibility and versatility for the broadest range of conflict.”

Also in the Middle East, the outgoing defense secretary warned Iraq against regional threats. “The Iraqi military would say they need continued assistance in terms of logistics, intelligence,” Gates said. “They have no capacity to defend their own airspace.”

Gates suggested, “There are some areas where we could continue to assist them, and I think at relatively small cost to ourselves, especially given the investment that has already been made.”

“As is often the case in Iraq, it will take some time for the political leaders to figure out a way to move forward on this,” he added. “… I hope they figure out a way to ask and I think that the United States would be willing to say yes when that time comes.”

Earlier, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told journalists the secretary is being helpful to his successor, CIA Director Leon Panetta, noting that, “This process is beginning under Secretary Gates. It is one he has devised.”

“But ultimately it is going to be seen through to fruition by his successor and I don’t think he wants to constrain his successor in any way in terms of how to get at these savings,” Morrell added.

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