Pentagon war budget rivals height of Vietnam War

On Sept. 27 and 28, both houses of Congress approved a $448 billion Pentagon budget for the 2007 fiscal year. President Bush is expected to sign the bill. Combined with earlier Pentagon appropriations, the war budget for the fiscal year that started Oct.1 is $464 billion.

This number, however, does not account for any emergency spending that the Bush administration will ask for. The

The massive Pentagon budget funds high-tech warplanes and other deadly weapons.

approved budget includes $70 billion for the occupation of Iraq. But the Bush administration has already estimated the cost for the 2007 fiscal year to be $110 billion, a number which is likely to increase. This means that at least $40 billion more likely will be added in future appropriations bills. The real amount of the Pentagon budget is much higher than reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 28 that the 2007 budget rivals the Pentagon’s budget during the height of the Vietnam War. In 1968, Pentagon outlays rose to about $470 billion when adjusted to 2006 dollars. This level was unmatched even during the Reagan-era arms buildup.

The major increase in Pentagon spending during Bush’s reign has been to maintain the illegal occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The occupation of Afghanistan has cost $97 billion, and Iraq has cost $379 billion. The Iraq war is costing U.S. taxpayers about $2.1 billion every week. This equals around $12.5 million each hour.

The Congressional Research Service estimates that the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, combined with enhanced military base security since 2001, will reach $549 billion this year.

War spending up, social services decline

The increased war expenditures are mirrored by deep cuts in the funding for social programs and attacks on social services in general. Living conditions for workers in the United States are declining. Workers are experiencing less access to health care, education, housing and food.

Nearly 47 million people in the United States lack healthcare coverage. Public schools are underfunded, and college is

becoming increasingly unaffordable. Gentrification is on the rise. Wages are not keeping up with inflation.

None of this matters to the capitalist class. Driving down wages, attacking organized labor, and waging imperialist wars to accumulate greater profits are some of its main priorities.

One way that the capitalist class attempts to maintain its dominance over the world’s resources and people is through the continual expansion of the repressive forces of the state—the military, police bodies and other agencies. This is in direct opposition to the needs of the workers and oppressed all over the world.

The colonial occupation of Iraq has destroyed the country’s infrastructure and killed well over 100,000 people. With the money spent to maintain the occupation, the U.S. government could have built 2,978,373 new housing units, hired 5,732,479 new public school teachers for one year and given 198,072,693 children health insurance for a year. (Nationalpriorities.org)

Under capitalism, these projects are unthinkable. An ever-increasing military budget ensures the survival of the capitalist exploiters for now. A new system, socialism, is needed to ensure that people’s needs are met.