His comments reflected what other officials have said that ending the F-22 program is just one part of the effort to shift the focus of U.S.defenses away from what they see as the relatively remote possibility of a war with a major power and toward the types of smaller-scale conflicts of recent years.

VOA: standard.2009.07.21

Underlying the growing tensions over Iran's nuclear program, the comments came as the Pentagon on Thursday disclosed details of an encounter Tuesday between U.S. and Iranian fighter jets after an Iranian plane approached a U.S. surveillance drone.

WSJ: Obama Sets Timeline on Iran Nuclear Bomb

But they focused most of their comments on the program that Bush has previously announced, arguing it would hurt seniors and place a burden on all taxpayers.

CNN: Kerry: Bush?would break promise on Social Security

The criticism was so strong that his positive comments about how the program was faring were overlooked in many media accounts.

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