“$500 Billion In Cuts . . . $500 Billion In Proposed Cuts. Fewer Troops. Fewer Planes. Fewer Ships. 136,000 Fewer Jobs In Virginia.”

— messages in a new Romney campaign Web video

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has repeatedly hammered President Obama for cutting military spending — in last week’s debate, in a new Web video and in mailers sent to residents in vote-rich Virginia. “Over 130,000 Virginia jobs and American’s national security are on the line,” the glossy pamphlet says. “Barack Obama’s agenda ignores Virginia’s families and security.”

The mailer even quotes Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta as decrying the impact of the cuts. That’s actually a clue that something more complex is going on here — why would Panetta be complaining about his boss’s policies?

This is a classic Washington food fight. But any fair reading of the facts would show the blame game is much more complex than Romney’s rhetoric.