By Craig Whitlock
The Washington Post - October 27, 2013
From his office deep inside the Pentagon, Yoda has outlasted the Cold
War, countless military conflicts and 10 presidential elections. But
can he survive the sequester?
Yoda is the reverential nickname for Andrew W. Marshall, a
legendary if mysterious figure in national security circles. A bald,
enigmatic 92-year-old strategic guru, he resembles the Jedi master of
“Star Wars” fame in more ways than one.
Since the Nixon administration, Marshall has directed the Pentagon’s secretive and obliquely named internal think tank, the Office of Net Assessment,
which contemplates military strategy decades into the future. Over his
long career, he has foretold the economic collapse of the Soviet Union,
the rise of China and the spread of robotic warfare.
Today,
confronting a budget crunch, Pentagon leaders are contemplating whether
Marshall and his think tank have outlived their usefulness, or need to
be reined in. The Office of Net Assessment costs taxpayers only about
$10 million a year — pocket change in the $525 billion annual defense
budget, but enough to face fresh scrutiny at a time of cutbacks.
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