President George W. Bush wants to put in place the most significant increase in defense spending since the first Reagan administration: $379 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2003, a $48 billion increase. Considerable sums will go to prosecute the war against global terrorism, meet routine and emergency commitments, and bolster homeland-security needs. And there looks to be a funding component for future readiness and research and development (R&D) to usher in military transformation, a key plank in the President's campaign. But if the past proves to be prologue, much of the proposed budget will be chimerical.
