US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he will propose a US$48 billion increase in military spending next year, the biggest rise in two decades, to buy high-tech equipment for a wider war against terrorism.
Saying the spending on precision weapons, missile defenses, a military pay raise, unmanned vehicles and high-tech gear for troops could stretch the budget, Bush said the US government would not stint on protecting its people after Sept. 11.
"Buying these tools may put a strain on our budget, but we will not cut corners when it comes to defense of our great land," he told military reserve officers as he outlined his defense request for fiscal 2003, which begins on Oct. 1.
"The tools of modern warfare are effective. They are expensive. But in order to win this war against terror they are essential," he added. "Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, this patient, this resolved nation will win the first war of the 21st century."
A White House official said the proposed increase included US$38 billion for items such as the pay raise and weaponry, and US$10 billion for a "war reserve" to fund any expansion of the war on terrorism beyond Afghanistan. He said the US$48 billion increase would bring the total proposed defense budget to US$379 billion.
"Our fight against terrorism began in Afghanistan, but it's not going to end there," Bush said. "We still face a shadow enemy who dwells in the dark corners of the Earth. Dangers and sacrifices lie ahead, yet America will not rest."
Bush's proposed 14 percent rise in defense spending would be the largest since the roughly 17 percent increases in 1981 and 1982, the first years of the massive military buildup under former president Ronald Reagan.
Bush has made homeland security and the war on terrorism his top priorities since the Sept. 11 attacks, saying the terror threat and economic recession justified a return to deficits for the first time since 1997.
The US began its war on terrorism in October with an air campaign and later the use of US special forces to help Afghan fighters topple Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which sheltered Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
Bush's speech provided a preview of his State of the Union address on Tuesday and his budget blueprint for fiscal 2003, which is due to be released on Feb. 4.
The president has already begun to come under attack from congressional Democrats over the fact that his tax and spending plans, combined with the US recession, will return the government to deficit for the first time since 1997.
But Virginia Senator John Warner, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters he expected Congress to support the large boost in defense spending.
"In my opinion the Congress is going to be supportive of the president," Warner said. "The people of the United States are prepared and ready to support an increase of this size."
Yesterday, the White House was expected to roll out plans for homeland security, including a big push to beef up local police, fire and rescue departments. To fund that effort, the White House has told lawmakers it would seek at least a US$15 billion increase in the 2003 budget.
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