President Bu
sh has submitted a 2008 defense budget request amounting to $481.4 billion—just for the DOD baseline not the war—surpassing the 2007 enacted level by 11.3 percent. Per a DOD release, that equates to a “real growth” of 8.6 percent. The baseline budget request includes a three percent pay raise for military and civilian personnel, funding to support the growth of the Army and Marine Corps, and enough for 20 F-22A Raptors and 12 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The graph here shows the shares by major category. The table here indicates the budget shares by service and shows the Air Force and Navy have much lower increases than the Army. Caution: The amount shown for the Air Force—$136.6 billion—includes $25.9 billion in non-blue money the service doesn’t control.
Newly elected Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has indicated he desires warmer relations with Beijing, saying he is even open to military ties with China, a move that would complicate Pacific Air Forces efforts to protect U.S. interests in the first and second island chains. “We have our relationship not…