#US #Military #Budget #Increase

US Military Budget Increase directed against Russia, 

China and the Middle East

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky

A substantial share of the increase in the US military budget that President Barack Obama has asked for will ultimately be directed against Russia, a political commentator says.

To listen to the audio interview with Michel Chossudovsky, click here

“I should mention that the F35, the submarines, the ships and so on are ultimately directed against China and Russia,” Michel Chossudovsky, the founder and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) told Press TV on Wednesday. 

 

According to a report circulated by the media, the US Defense Department was set to increase its military budget by eight percent. 

Some 57 next-generation F-35 fighters, nine new ships and submarines, and construction of new long-range Air Force tankers are among the items included in the budget. 

“A large component of this military budget increase will be used to extend the process of militarization in Ukraine on Russia’s doorsteps,” Chossudovsky noted. 

According to “pre-decisional” Pentagon documents that obtained by the Associated Press on Tuesday, Obama would ask for $534 billion for the core budget of the Pentagon that projects a $38 billion hike. 

The Pentagon said that most of the military budget increase would go to the procurement of new war-fighting equipment as well as operations and maintenance expenditures. 

Chossudovsky said, 

“It’s a very hefty increase in the so-called defense budget at a time when the United States proclaims to be involved in peace-making operations. It is no longer officially involved in wars.”

According to the Pentagon documents, the budget also includes $5.3 billion to “equip and train” Iraqi soldiers and the so-called moderate Syrian militants to fight ISIL. 

Chossudovsky, however, believes that the United States is actually financing the ISIL “through Saudi Arabia and Qatar.” 

He said that 

“much of the funds which are allocated to the so-called global war on terrorism are actually used to finance these terrorist entities which are supported covertly by US intelligence.”

The Pentagon announced that it would deploy about 1,000 troops to train the “moderate militants” in Syria to combat ISIL terrorists. 

The training is expected to begin in early spring and will take place in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.