Appropriation of The Department of Defense From The Federal Budget Essay

Appropriation of The Department of Defense From The Federal Budget - Essay Example According to the Department of Defense, the Bush administration in the US has fought the war on terror on the offensive to counter any proposed, planned terror attacks and to uproot terror camps in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq. The Defense department has claimed that the US military has been able to remove threats to US security in Afghanistan and Iraq and has liberated 50 million people of these countries. The Defense department has also claimed that it has raised pay levels for US service men and women and the rise in pay levels has been 21% with expanded targeted pays and bonuses. The military personnel and their families are also provided with better services and housing through new constructions and privatization. The defense budget has also shown an increased spending by 26% and this has been able to transform the Nation's defenses with the largest increase in military spending recorded since the Reagan administration. To improve readiness rates, transformational and joi nt training program has also been launched in the defense department with increased research and development funding by 56%. The Defense department has also claimed that there has been doubled investments in missile defense systems and the first ever land and sea based systems have been deployed (provided by the Department of Defense statement, 2005). The US defense agenda thus seems to be based on a war on terror, improving housing quality of military personnel, increased research and development in defense sectors, and increased pay for military personnel. The Department of defense gives further arguments in favour of an increased defense budget since the time of Reagan's presidential administration. According to the Department of Defense, the following reasons of Defense spending have been advanced. According to the Department of Defense, the Bush administration's agenda and defense spending - advances and promotes US' ongoing efforts in the Global War on Terror; provides for $401.7 billion of Defense Department's base budget, and this indicates an annual increase of seven percent, for a total increase in defense spending of 35 percent since 2001; makes considerable progress in transforming the Department to meet new threats and prepared to face new challenges; and continues improvements in the quality of life for US military personnel and their families by providing them with higher pay and better homes. (Department of Defense, 2005) Global war on terror and the need to meet new threats seem to have shaped the defense budget and increased defense spending to a whopping $401.7 billion with an annual increase of 7% and a total increase of as high as 35% since 2001. In comparison, China's Defense budget has also increased from $22 billion to nearly $30 billion in 2005. Thus although US defense spending seems to have shown a steady rise since the September 11 attacks in 2001, China's defense budget has shown drastic increases after 2002. China's defense spending may have been attempting to keep pace with other countries and defense budget has increased by 12.6%. China's defense spending is higher than that of Taiwan, India or South Korea. Although China's defense s