War Is At Our Footsteps, Countries Splurge To Do Whatever It Takes to Win.

Japan approves record defence budget, record $42b budget is to boost defences of disputed islands amid China's assertiveness in the region

Japan's cabinet has approved the country's largest defence budget, with plans to buy surveillance aircraft and F-35 fighter jets to improve defences of disputed islands amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet endorsed on Wednesday a nearly $42b defence budget for the year beginning in April, a two percent rise.

The budget must still be approved by parliament, but Abe's coalition holds majorities in both houses. The military outlays were included in a record $814b total budget for the coming fiscal year. Japan's military budget is rising for a third year in a row under Abe, who took office in December 2012 and ended 11 straight years of defence budget cuts. The increase mainly covers new equipment, including P-1 surveillance aircraft, F-35 fighter jets and amphibious vehicles for a new unit to boost island defences.

The 2015 budget also covers cost of purchasing parts of "Global Hawk" drones, planned for deployment in 2019, and two Aegis radar-equipped destroyers, as well as missile defence system development with Washington. Chinese patrol boats often visit waters near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China. More: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2015/01/japan-approves-record-defence-budget-2015114391974279.html

We could cut our military spending in half and still lead the world. Insanity. #MICpic.twitter.com/qvELeeYwxK

House Armed Services Chair: Hike Taxes to Increase Military Spending, Insists He's Open to Anything That Increases Pentagon Budget

In a newly published interview, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R – TX), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, says that he would support increasing taxes so long as it meant an increase in military spending.

Thornberry insisted this didn’t amount to advocating a tax increase as such, but recognized that the administration wouldn’t agree to his spending increases without increasing revenue, and that it was a “necessary compromise.”

Despite Rep. Thornberry claiming the Pentagon’s budget was facing sequestration cuts, Congress has repeatedly blocked actually following through on those cuts, and has increased military spending in recent years, just at a slower rate than the Pentagon wanted, and presented anything less than the hypothetical maximum as a “cut.”

Which seems to be working from Thornberry’s perspective, as he says that he is open to “pretty much anything” that the government could do to ensure that the Pentagon’s budget is sufficient for its myriad wars.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/01/14/house-armed-services-chair-hike-taxes-to-increase-military-spending/

Left-of-center media reports often focus on the percentage of GDP that Israel spends on its military. Just last year, the Haaretz newspaper in Israel trumpeted the following report:

Israel shells out almost a fifth of national budget on defense, figures show... State spending is more than six times what industrialized nations and Arab countries drop, on average...

Almost a fifth of Israel's budget went on defense in 2009, according to a new report. The country is spending far more than other industrialized nations on security, with over half those costs going on salary expenses.

Israel also spends proportionally more on defense than any other country in the Middle East… Even Turkey and Iran, which consider themselves military powerhouses, spent proportionately less.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/01/israels_military_is_being_badly_outspent_in_the_middle_east.html

MOSCOW, January 20 (Sputnik) — Moscow is capable to meet challenges posed by other countries without being drawn into an expensive arms race, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"We are not going to enter a costly arms race as Russia is not threatening anyone while attempting to resolve all controversial issues at the negotiations table," Putin said at a meeting of Russia's Military-Industrial Commission.

According to the Russian president, this policy will be adhered to in the future.

"We must, however, ensure reliable and guaranteed protection of Russia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests," Putin stressed, adding that Russia will continue strengthening its military with the focus on the use of advanced technologies.

Putin also noted the amounts of money spent on the military in the United States, as well as other countries, and Russia. "The magnitudes are incomparable, simply incomparable – (they spend many) times more than we spend."

Last December, during his annual address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian leader stated that Russia would not get involved in an arms race, but does have innovative solutions to defend itself at its disposal, and is ready to apply them when needed.

MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin says Russia will develop new weapons that will ensure its security without entering a costly arms race with the West.

Putin said Tuesday after touring a shooting range outside Moscow that some of the weapons he saw there looked like they came straight from a science fiction movie.

He says Russia's military modernization plans should be realistic and take into account the current economic situation. The Russian economy is facing a recession under a combined blow of Western sanctions over Ukraine and slumping prices for oil, its main cash earner.

Without naming any country, Putin says Russia could respond to military threats without spending as much as others on defense, adding that "we can and should respond to that challenge."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/01/20/5459527/putin-says-russia-will-build-new.html#.VL7BXkfF_gk

I agree with Thornberry - if we want to GOAD RUSSIA into going to war over Ukraine, we might as well start spending the money needed to actually win, since millions of American lives will still answer to just one of their thousands of nukes.

Our military budge now is SO STRONG that we’ve managed to get 3 carriers out of base (i.e., deployed), which is a lot better than the 1 or 2 we were able to send out at any time last year. A whole 3 carriers... I guess we have to start somewhere.

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