Analysis: How does the US military need strengthening?
President Donald Trump has proposed a 10% increase in the defence budget for next year, an addition of some $54bn (£43bn).
This funding request is only the start of a budgetary process, but even at the outset the Trump figures are not quite what they seem. The outgoing Obama administration was also projecting an increase in defence spending in 2018 - up by about $35bn, so actually the Trump "increase" in dollar terms is some $19bn.
The Trump administration's numbers have already drawn criticism from leading law-makers on Capitol Hill. Senator John McCain, who chaired a bi-partisan panel on the re-building of the US military that reported in January, insists that the Trump Administration is not planning to spend enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment