Top General responds to Paul Ryan: 'I stand by my testimony'

Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dempsey (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dempsey (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)

Yesterday Rep. Paul Ryan told a National Journal policy summit audience that, in his opinion, top U.S. military leaders had lied to Congressional budget-makers when they testified in support of the budget request by the Pentagon, saying "what we get from the Pentagon is more of a budget driven strategy, not a strategy driven budget."

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, does not appreciate the slur.

Gen. Dempsey, the military’s top officer, took sharp exception to the chairman’s comments.

“There’s a difference between having someone say they don’t believe what you said versus … calling us, collectively, liars,” Gen. Dempsey told reporters aboard a U.S. military aircraft after a four day visit to Latin America. ”My response is: I stand by my testimony. This was very much a strategy-driven process to which we mapped the budget.”

It really was the height of arrogance of Ryan to justify the increased defense spending in his own budget, beyond the Pentagon's request, by saying that the top brass was lying; that they had picked a budget number to match what the White House wanted in spending. It's particularly arrogant to say the Joint Chiefs of Staff and American generals lied to Congress. But what more could one expect of Ryan? Arrogance is the one thing he has in abundance.