Word: requesters
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Pentagon's 2009 budget request is the highest--after accounting for inflation--since WW II. But because of U.S. economic growth, military spending as a share of the national pie is smaller than in prior conflicts. [The following descriptive text appears within a diagram...
...have skyrocketed 26 percent—a rate of increase unsurpassed in any period of comparable length since World War II. To make matters worse, on Monday, President Bush asked for $515.4 billion for the peacetime military establishment in 2009—a $35.9 billion increase over his 2008 request. This yawning defense budget may seem a necessary evil in light of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, until we realize that the costs of these engagements are not factored into the proposed half-trillion dollar baseline budget. Bush has made a $70 billion supplemental request...
...There are scant signs, though, that it will. Gates' letter to Germany specifically requested up to 1,000 troops for the south together with helicopters. Within 24 hours, Germany responded with a simple rejection, although it will be sending another 250 rapid reaction troops to the north. Neither party in Germany's current ruling grand coalition government wants to stick its neck out on the unpopular proposal in the runup to elections next year. France is considering the request but any decision to dispatch more troops will likely be tied to a greater role in strategic decision-making. Other countries...
...NATO campaign in southern Afghanistan was "stern," according to a German government spokesman. Unnamed Berlin officials were quoted in the German press calling it an "outrage" and even, in one case, an "impertinence." Nonsense, retorted a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity this week: "It was a request by one member of the alliance to another: It was not a demand." Maybe so, but the chilly reception to the missive augurs poorly for Washington's new campaign to persuade allies to dispatch more troops to volatile parts of southern Afghanistan...
...Just three days before the Pentagon released its budget request, the Government Accountability Office released a study into how the military buys such weapons. It did not contain good news. "The cost of designing and developing these systems could continue to exceed estimates by billions of dollars if DOD continues to employ the same acquisition practices, including those for quality, as it has in the past," it said. "Excessive scrap, rework, and repair costs, as well as reliability problems impact overall quality and could ultimately present serious consequences on a weapon system's long-term support costs and affordability...