US President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed an increase in defence spending as he unveiled his budget plans for the coming year, but Republicans said the extra funding does not go far enough.
America already spends more on defence than the next nine countries combined, and under Mr Biden's proposal for fiscal year 2024, the Pentagon would get $842 billion — a $26 billion (3.2 per cent) increase from 2023's record-breaking defence budget.
The defence spending would include $9.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which is geared towards boosting Washington's regional competitiveness against an emboldened Beijing, and $37.7 billion for modernising US nuclear capabilities.
Mr Biden's budget mainly focuses on domestic spending, but tucked away in the proposal is an emphasis on “de-escalation” in the Middle East and a continuing focus on countering China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the budget would “make it possible for us to continue to promote US national interests, lead the world in tackling global challenges and continue support for the people of Ukraine”.
Under the previous budget, Mr Biden signed into law a record $858 billion in defence spending, $45 billion more than he had asked for.
Critics argued that Mr Biden's latest proposal would amount to a defence cut, once inflation is considered.
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, who has previously endorsed “sustained” growth of the national defence budget at a minimum rate of 5 per cent above inflation, called the proposal “woefully inadequate”.
“This defence budget is a serious indication of President Biden’s failure to prioritise national security,” the Republican said in a statement.
US Special Operations Commander Gen Bryan Fenton spoke at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this week about defence spending in the 2024 budget.
He told the committee that Washington's defence apparatus is operating in “an era where the strategic competitors … seek to reshape the rules-based international order”.
Gen Fenton added that counter-terrorism and anti-ISIS campaigns in the Middle East remain “a high priority” and that the past year's operations have been vigorous.
“It's been an extremely challenging year for these extremist operations with a number of operations we put together including in Syria,” he added.
Christopher Maier, US assistant secretary of defence for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said that operations “are probably on a good pathway in terms of funding” but that global inflation has presented a “challenge”.
“If our budget is flat, that reduces our buying power.”
Outside of defence spending, Mr Biden's budget seeks to launch a new Middle East and North Africa Opportunity Fund “to support priorities for US engagement and respond to prospects for de-escalation and peace across the region”.
It allocates about $6.4 billion for Washington's regional partners, including $3.3 billion to the US-Israel Memorandum of Understanding; $1.45 billion to Jordan; $1.4 billion to “support the US strategic partnership with Egypt”; and $259 million for “critical assistance” for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel, Egypt and Jordan usually constitute the majority of Washington's Middle East funding requests, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Given the plan's more concentrated focus on the Indo-Pacific and Russia, analysts say it continues a trend of Washington's pivot away from the region.
The FY 2024 budget "does signal that the Middle East is taking up a lower rank on the Pentagon's priority list and we should not be surprised about further draw-down efforts in the region," Caroline Rose, Portfolio Director and Head of the Power Vacuums programme at the New Lines Institute, told The National.
Mr Biden's proposal resurrects many items stripped from last year's budget plan, including plans to cut the nation's deficit by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years by raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000 a year and ending corporate tax breaks enacted in 2017 under then-president Donald Trump.
Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has threatened to block an increase in the $31.4 trillion limit on federal borrowing unless Mr Biden agrees to trim spending.
It also proposes raising taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, one official said, and “tackles wasteful special interest giveaways”.
Republicans say Mr Biden's spending during his first two years in office drove inflation to near 40-year highs last summer. They are already readying $150 billion in cuts to non-defence discretionary programmes that they say would save $1.5 trillion over a decade.
In February, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the national debt held by the public would grow by more than $20 trillion over the next decade.
The publicly held debt would be equal to 118 per cent of US gross domestic product, up from 98 per cent this year.
Squads
India: Kohli (c), Rahul, Shaw, Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, Vihari, Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Shami, Umesh, Siraj, Thakur
West Indies: Holder (c), Ambris, Bishoo, Brathwaite, Chase, Dowrich (wk), Gabriel, Hamilton, Hetmyer, Hope, Lewis, Paul, Powell, Roach, Warrican, Joseph
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS: 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING - EUROPE
Albania 0 Italy 1
Finland 2 Turkey 2
Macedonia 4 Liechtenstein
Iceland 2 Kosovo 0
Israel 0 Spain 1
Moldova 0 Austria 1
Serbia 1 Georgia 0
Ukraine 0 Croatia 2
Wales 0 Ireland 1
