This week, President Obama announced a new defense planbased on budget cuts in the coming years.BARACK OBAMA: "Our military will be leaner,but the world must know the United Statesis going to maintain our military superiority."Mr. Obama said details of the defense budgetwill be announced in the coming weeks.But he said Asia and the Middle Eastwill get greater attention.BARACK OBAMA: "As I made clear in Australia,we'll be strengthening our presence in the Asia Pacific,and budget reductions will not comeat the expense of this critical region.We're going to continue investingin our critical partnerships and alliances,including NATO, which has demonstrated time and again-- most recently in Libya-- that it's a force multiplier.We will stay vigilant, especially in the Middle East."Mr. Obama spoke Thursday in a rare presidential appearancein the press briefing room at the Pentagon-- the Defense Department headquarters.He said the nation is at a "moment of transition"after ten years of war.BARACK OBAMA: "As we look beyond the warsin Iraq and Afghanistan,and the end of long-term, nation-buildingwith large military footprints,we will be able to ensure our securitywith smaller conventional ground forces.We'll continue to get rid of outdated Cold War-era systemsso that we can invest in the capabilitieswe need for the future, including intelligence,surveillance and reconnaissance; counterterrorism;countering weapons of mass destruction;and the ability to operate in environmentswhere adversaries try to deny us access."Joining Mr. Obama were Defense Secretary Leon Panettaand the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,Army General Martin Dempsey.The president ordered a strategic review last yearto help guide decision-making by the Defense Department.American military policy is currently designedto be prepared to fight and win two wars at once.Secretary Panetta said that ideawas a "residual of the Cold War."He said this, in some ways,restricted thinking about the future.LEON PANETTA: "Our strategy review concludedthat the United States must have the capabilityto fight several conflicts at the same time.We are not confronting obviously the threats of the past,we are confronting the threats of the twenty-first century,and that demands greater flexibility to shiftand deploy forces to be able to fightand defeat any enemy anywhere."The defense secretary said troop numbers would be cut.But he said the United States will protectand in some cases increase its investmentsin areas such as special operations and cyberspace.For some defense experts, including Michael O'Hanlonat the Brookings Institution in Washington,the new strategic plan makes sense.MICHAEL O'HANLON: "It's been in discussion for twenty years,and it's even more feasible nowwith Saddam Hussein gone from Iraq,and I think it's also responsiveto the set of threats we face todaywhere more of them are likely to be at seaor in the air -- from Iran, for example."But former defense official Frank Gaffney,now president of the Center for Security Policy,says the new strategy has many problems.FRANK GAFFNEY: "It may not be up to ushow many wars we have to fight.Enemies who perceive us unable to dealwith more than one problem at a time may decide to collaborateand work in a simultaneous fashion that will simply overtax us.And worse, the perception that we are so weakas to be unable to deal with that sort of danger invites it."The defense budget for this yearis about five hundred thirty billion dollars.Mr. Panetta said the new strategy aims to cut aboutfour hundred eighty-seven billion dollars over ten years.However, the military may face more thanfive hundred billion dollars in additional cutsas Congress and the president seek to reduce the federal deficit.And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.