So, the budget battle is over. Or is it? In the way typical of Washington, lawmakers have reached a deal that, while it includes some immediate budget cuts, defers the biggest decisions for future resolution. Now it will be up to the super committee to figure out how to cut at least $1.2 trillion in spending, or else automatic cuts will be enforced in the fall, with half falling on defense, the other half on Medicare and other social programs.

Opinions differ as to whether the automatic cuts will take place, but Bill Kristol worries they might be, and I’m inclined to agree. That would be a catastrophe for the future of American power: The armed forces can survive, barely, the $350 billion in cuts over 10 years mandated by the first part of the budget package. They could not survive, at least not in their current form, an extra $600+ billion in cuts.

That is a bigger cut than even Harry Reid advocated, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the incoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs, rightly warned implementing Reid’s plan “would be extraordinarily difficult and very high risk.”

Nothing less than than the future of American power hangs in the balance. The 21st century could well be the Chinese century, not the American century, if cuts on that scale are implemented.

That makes it essential congressional Republicans man the ramparts and prevent the evisceration of our armed forces. And for that to happen, congressional leaders must appoint members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to the super committee. The lawmakers most knowledgeable about, and passionate about, the armed forces must be in the middle of deliberations to make clear to their colleagues excessive cuts will carry a price tag that cannot be measured simply in dollars and cents.