Senate panel grills Rumsfeld over Crusader cancellation

Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Tuesday told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld they were deeply concerned about his abrupt decision to cancel the Army's $11 billion Crusader artillery system.

Inouye noted the strong support Crusader received from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki in earlier hearings, and asked Rumsfeld why he chose to ignore the advice of "those who have spent their lives studying the art of war."

Stevens said he was "deeply troubled by the process" that led to the cancellation of the high-tech self-propelled howitzer. Stevens said Rumsfeld had a number of opportunities to cancel Crusader earlier.

"I don't think it's fair to make these decisions so late in the process," he said.

Neither Inouye nor Stevens specifically said they would overrule Rumsfeld and provide the $475 million included in President Bush's fiscal 2003 Defense budget request for Crusader. But Stevens asked Rumsfeld what he would do with the money if Crusader were terminated.

Rumsfeld responded at length about the massive procurement "bow wave" chasing the military because of all the new programs that needed to be funded in the future. And he stressed the need to transform the military for future conflicts.

"Those transformation investments cannot be made without terminating some programs and finding other savings," he said.

Rumsfeld acknowledged that Crusader would be a good system if it were deployed, but insisted that there are alternatives with greater capabilities. He promised to leave all the Crusader funds in the Army's budget to help develop those alternatives.

Noting the continuous overlap of budgeting processes in the Pentagon and in Congress, Rumsfeld complained there appeared to be no good time to kill a program.

"Someone has to make tough decisions," he said, "and in my judgment, we have to make them earlier, rather than later."