In recent weeks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried several times to deliver a message loud and clear to the military establishment: It is time to trim the bureaucracy and buy cheaper weapons. "Given America's difficult economic circumstances and parlous fiscal condition, military spending on things large and small can and should expect closer, harsher scrutiny," Gates said Saturday at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Kansas. "The gusher has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time."