Cutting Close to Home

Ronald Dellums is not the sort of person the Pentagon would pick to be chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Known for his radical politics that earned him the nickname "Berkeley Berzerkly," he has maintained a steadfastly critical military posture during his 22 years as Congressman from Oakland, California. It was Dellums who consistently slashed away at Defense expenditures, voted to cut the number of B-2 bombers down to 20 when the Pentagon wanted 130, helped knock back the budget for the Strategic Defense Initiative and voted to trim U.S. military presence in Europe. His mantra: some of the billions...