'US plans more funding for Afghanistan than Iraq'

The United States has planned more funding for Afghanistan in next year’s proposed defence budget, marking a shift in priorities that the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates seeks to execute in defense spending, the Washington Post reported on Friday.According to the paper, the $130 billion in war funds that are part of the fiscal 2010 budget request includes $65 billion for Afghanistan operations and $61 billion for Iraq. For 2009, $87 billion was requested for Iraq and $47 billion for Afghanistan.The proposed funding covers the deployment of 21,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year, raising the total to 68,000. More funds would be required if President Obama decides to meet the request of U.S. commanders for 10,000 more troops next year.The funding includes $700 million for training and equipment to improve Pakistan's counterinsurgency capability, a major increase in such assistance over the $400 million sought for this year, the newspaper said.The Pentagon's $534 billion base budget is $21 billion, or 4 percent, larger than last year's. It includes key initiatives that reflect Gates's plan to reshape the military so it is more suited to fighting today's wars and less focused on preparing for future conflicts.According to The Washington Post report, major spending increases include $2 billion on intelligence and reconnaissance, $500 million to field and maintain helicopters, and funds to add 2,400 personnel to Special Operations Forces in 2010 as well as aircraft to support them. More will be spent on some modern weapons systems, with an increase in the purchase of littoral combat ships and the "fifth generation" F-35 fighter jets.But the report said that budgetary pressure had slowed the growth of defense spending overall, which increased 2 percent in inflation-adjusted terms for 2010, compared with an average of 4 percent from 2001 to 2009. The 2010 Pentagon budget proposed by Obama eliminates $8.8 billion in weapons programs that were in the 2009 budget, restructuring or terminating those considered "troubled."