Al Jazeera February 26, 2009
Obama's defence conundrum
By Rob Reynolds
As Barack Obama, the US president, sends his budget outline to congress, US defence spending is coming under new scrutiny.
Fighting two wars and supporting an enormous global military machine, the US spent almost $700bn on defence in 2008.
The Bush administration concealed the true size of its military outlays with budget gimmicks, but Obama says from now on there will be no more tricks.
"For too long our budget has not held true about how our tax dollars are spent," Obama said on Thursday.
"Large sums held off the budget, including the true cost of Iraq and Afghanistan."
Political influence
But John Pike, a US defence expert, says military spending is notoriously resistant to the budget knife.
"The military industrial complex has become embedded in American life," he told Al Jazeera.
"It seems normal and there aren't strong voices, countervailing constituencies arguing against it."
Big defence contractors such as Lockheed, Boeing, and Raytheon have shrewdly spread their activities all over the country, providing jobs to voters and financial support for US politicians' election campaigns.
"They look for key congressional districts and make sure their programme has some facility in the district and as many others as possible," Pike says.
"So by the time congress votes on a system, out of 435 members of the house, you're guaranteed to have 200 to 250 who are going to make money on that programme."
'Misplaced power'?
Present-day defence spending evokes a warning given nearly half a century ago by the US's last president who was a career military officer.
In his January 17, 1961 farewell message to the nation, Dwight Eisenhower said: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."
"The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Military spending is one part of what is swelling the overall US deficit to a projected $1.75trn.
Obama has pledged to cut the deficit in half by 2013 by ending the war in Iraq and raising taxes on the wealthiest two per cent of Americans.
Republican concerns
But Republicans are highly sceptical that Obama can bring runaway deficits under control.
"I say that's impossible," says Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist.
"Many presidents have had same goal ... I dare anyone to say any president has ever attained it, especially with the spending we've seen."
Obama's budget proposal released on Thursday only sketches out the broad strokes of his spending plans - he will send congress a more detailed plan in a couple of months.
But the political wrangling among Democrats and Republicans has already begun.
© Copyright 2009, Al Jazeera
