In early August the US Congress approved a new $460 bn defence budget with the full support of the Democrats by a vote of 395 to 13. The US military budget is now larger than the military budgets of the next fourteen biggest spenders combined, and over eight times larger than the second largest military spender, China.
The budget did not include nuclear weapons research, maintenance or production, which is in the Department of Energy budget, nor does it include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which are largely funded through extra-budgetary supplements, which in 2007 amounted to $120 bn. So in reality the total US defence budget is closer to $680 billion out of a total federal budget of $2.9 trillion. The department of defence will spend most of US taxpayer's money then any other department, even more then the department of social security.
The Bush administration argue that such an increased spend is necessary to support America's on going occupation of Iraq as well as facilitate its plans to reshape the Middle East through its proxy, Israel. However, this cannot be further from the truth as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were funded from supplements which are not from the defence budget. A more accurate explanation of the increased defence budget is due to the following:
Space based weapons – On August 31st last year, President Bush authorized a new national space policy, which amongst over things declared,
The United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit US access to or use of space. Proposed arms control agreements or restrictions must not impair the rights of the United States to conduct research, development, testing, and operations or other activities in space for US national interests.1
The budget included the development of technology which would allow the US to place weapons in space. It will allow the development of a whole array of space weapons including anti-satellite systems and a system called "hypervelocity rod bundles" which would hurl down on a target from space.
Missile Defence System – This is the most expensive weapons system ever to be assembled, and it has yet to be proven to work. Once this system is functional it will give the US immense global projection capabilities.
Nuclear Weapons – The US is apt at telling North Korea and Iran to rid themselves of a nuclear arsenal and threatening them for even considering a nuclear deterrent. Yet over $50 billion will be poured into upgrading its own nuclear system.
The budget also includes the upgrading and development of the F-22 which is the next generation of fighter jets and it also includes the upgrading and development of smart guns and sub-machine guns which the US has a history of placing in the hands of mercenary groups and dictators. The 2005 annual US congress report stated that 58% of all US arms trade contracts are made with developing countries.
The most recent World Policy Report, an annual update issued by the Arms Trade Research Centre, exposed US complicity in arming brutal tyrants and dictators many of which are in the Muslim world. The report's executive summary stated,
"In 2005, the last year for which full information is available, the United States transferred weaponry to 18 of the 25 countries involved in active conflicts. From Angola, Chad and Ethiopia, to Colombia, Pakistan and the Philippines, transfers through the two largest US arms sales programs (Foreign Military Sales and Commercial Sales) to these conflict nations totalled nearly $1 billion in 2003, with the vast bulk of the dollar volume going to Israel ($845.6 million). In 2005, more than half of the top 25 recipients of U.S. arms transfers in the developing world (13 of 25) were defined as undemocratic by the US State Department's Human Rights Report: in the sense that "citizens do not have the right to change their own government" or that right was seriously abridged. These 13 nations received over $2.7 billion in U.S. arms transfers the top recipients included Saudi Arabia ($1.1 billion), Egypt ($1.0 billion), Kuwait ($153 million), the United Arab Emirates ($110 million) and Uzbekistan ($33 million)."
Whilst operational differences on the conduct of the Iraq occupation exist between Republicans and Democrats, the budget was able to be passed for the following reason. Almost all weapons systems procurement is broken down into a supply chain that turns the 50 states in the US into an assembly line for the military-industrial complex. Almost every member of Congress therefore supports the defence budget as it will bring jobs, contracts and money into their home district.
This budget actually indicates a much more important point which has much wider implications; by passing a budget of this magnitude the US administration is acknowledging that it's much trumpeted ‘battle for hearts and minds' campaign has been lost and it's just a matter of time before those whose hearts and minds have been lost will achieve their political destiny.
This point is proven as the budget for public diplomacy is a paltry $1.2 bn or 0.18% of the defence budget. Hence, US planners are now resigned to countering anyone opposing their colonial intent by increased defence expenditure and the setting up of military bases in the Muslim world rather than the superiority of western thoughts and values.
The US has failed to curtail the resistance in both Afghanistan and Iraq; the lies of Iraqis welcoming coalition troops and throwing flowers to the liberators are now a distant memory. It is obvious that the US politicians from whatever political party envisage its military at the forefront of US expeditions abroad in the coming years. By passing such a large budget it is also a rather unsubtle attempt to strike fear into the Muslim Ummah that America will not leave the Islamic world unopposed.
For the Muslim world, increased US military expenditure either by itself or channelled to its agents and puppets should not be a source of fear or trepidation. The momentum of public opinion for Khilafah from Rabat to Jakarta indicates the era of US hegemony will shortly end and the inevitable realisation of the Muslim world's aspirations are soon to be realised.