Word: aspine
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...that may have served as part of a cold war strategy to deceive the Soviets into spending their way into oblivion to counter SDI, similar misinformation was provided to Congress to persuade it to fund the program with huge sums -- $31 billion to date. Clearly stung, Defense Secretary Les Aspin, a former Congressman, ordered an internal investigation at the Pentagon. Said he: "Any allegation that the Congress has been misled raises serious questions." Said Senator David Pryor, whose long-standing probe of SDI seems to have triggered the revelations: "It could totally discredit the testing process and the credibility...
...Shalikashvili's nomination, a Marine Corps blunder handed Clinton another chance to show who's boss. In an effort to reduce the number of failed marriages that collapse under the rigors of Marine life, General Carl Mundy, the commandant, announced -- without consulting Aspin -- that the corps would refuse to accept married recruits as of Sept. 30, 1995. The political equivalent of a fragmentation grenade, Mundy's directive would have created a paradoxical situation in which the Marines would accept gay recruits -- as long as they kept mum about their sexual orientation -- but not married heterosexuals. "If they are not allowed...
Clinton and Aspin immediately jumped in to rescind the order, which they had never approved. Any new policies on the matter, Aspin flatly stated, would be submitted to him for review. The next day, Mundy, who had been outspoken in opposition to accepting gays in the service, performed his act of contrition at a press conference. He acknowledged "blind-siding" the President. "I just kicked this one in the grandstand," he said. "I did not adequately inform my civilian superiors of the policy." While many military experts sympathized with Mundy's concern for the impact of marriage troubles...
...hopes of warming the relationship further, Aspin argued that his boss actually has much in common with the mainstream military -- a lot of Baptist, small-town Southern boys. Administration sources also confirmed that over the next five years Clinton may be prepared to spend up to $20 billion more on defense than he originally promised. With Les able to offer more, Clinton might finally take real command at the Pentagon...
...Aspin quashes his plan to make the Marines a singles club...