President seeks 7 percent spending increase for Pentagon

By Los Angeles Times

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That would take the defense budget to levels exceeding those at the height of the Cold War.

The increase is needed to help pay for a raft of costly weapons and programs bolstered by the Washington, D.C.'s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but would not include costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The administration is expected to make a request later in the year — most likely after the November presidential election — for an additional $50 billion or more to pay for those military operations.

The $401.7 billion request is in line with what the Pentagon a year ago projected it would seek as part of a long-range plan to boost military spending to $484 billion annually by 2009. It does not include military programs funded by the Energy Department, expected to cost about $20 billion in 2005.

"When you listen to the rhetoric coming from the Pentagon, one might get the impression that all the increases in spending since 9-11 have been closely related to waging the war on terrorism. But clearly this has not been the case," said Steven Kosiak, director of budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a nonpartisan defense think tank.

Meanwhile, President Bush yesterday signed a $373 billion omnibus spending bill that provides funding for 11 federal agencies.

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