US approves $547bn military budget

The US has spent over USD 1 trillion on war since 2001.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185412.html

The Armed Services Committee of the US Senate has increased the Pentagon's 2012 budget by USD15 billion in the face of calls for federal spending reductions.

The amount represents a USD 6 billion panel cut from the Pentagon base request of USD 553 billion, according to a summary released by the panel on Friday.

Despite the USD 6 billion spending cut the legislation faced widespread criticism as the country continues to tackle severe economic hardships.

“Unfortunately, the committee chose to authorize millions of dollars in unnecessary and unrequested pork-barrel projects, and rejected my efforts to stop the out-of-control cost overruns of the F-35 program,” Senator John McCain was quoted by The Hill as saying.

The soaring military spending comes while the Obama administration has had to cut public spending in programs such as Medicare to compensate for the budget deficit.

The United States has spent more than one trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 and the 2012 requested war budget was USD 118 billion.

Polls show that Americans support cuts in US military spending.