Before he stepped down as America’s defence chief earlier this year, Robert Gates set out a plan to streamline the Pentagon’s bloated post-9/11 budget. Events may be about to make Mr Gates’ efficiencies look very modest. Last week’s failure by the super-committee to agree on a 10-year $1,200bn tightening in the US budget means the military faces automatic cuts of almost $600bn.
今年早些时候，罗伯特•盖茨(Robert Gates)在卸任美国国防部长之前制定了一套方案，精