Bush Asks for Sizeable Increase in Funds for Army

Why does Mr.Bush ask for such a sizeable increase for war fighting? To fight the next war, of course:

The U.S. Army, which has borne much of the weight of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, would get $130 billion under President Bush's 2008 budget a sizable increase that would help ease the strain and meet equipment needs.

The proposal represents a 16 percent hike over this year, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. When coupled with additional tens of billions of dollars in emergency war funding, it "should go a long ways toward making the Army better," said Steven Kosiak, an analyst with the private Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

It certainly ain't about taking care of our troops over in Iraq or Afghanistan:

The Bush administration will ask for another $100 billion for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year and seek $145 billion for 2008, a senior administration official said Friday.

The requests Monday, to accompany President Bush's budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, would bring the total appropriations for 2007 to about $170 billion, with a slight decline the following year.

A budget larger than most economies:

Bush will request $716 billion for defense and the global war on terror when he submits his fiscal 2008 budget next week, according to a Pentagon document. The military funding request is greater than the annual gross domestic product of all but 14 countries.

The request to Congress includes $93.4 billion in additional money for fiscal 2007 to cover costs of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The remaining $622.6 billion would cover the year ending Sept. 30, 2008 and include $141.7 billion for the wars.