The $30 billion, pre-Christmas round of cuts to big-ticket weapons programs was the result of weeks of careful deliberations between Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior military leaders, according to officials involved in the process. Critics of the cuts to aircraft, shipbuilding, and missile defense programs spelled out in program budget decision No. 753 -- approved by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz Dec. 23 -- have argued that budget pressures drove the Pentagon leaders to pare back and terminate programs...
