Russian defense spending will increase by 25% for 2009, according to Pravda.
Russian lawmakers gave preliminary approval Friday to a 2009 budget that calls for a 25 percent hike in defense spending – a sharp increase for Russia’s military that comes only a month after it crushed Georgia on the battlefield.
The boost in defense spending fits in with Russia’s recent defiant posture toward the West, a stance that has seen relations with the United States and the European Union sink to a post-Cold War low after last month’s war in Georgia.
Presumably this doesn’t count the incredible amount of export profit Russia is making from supplying arms to the world, especially to adversaries of the USA, like Iran, Venezuela, etc.
One can only wonder exactly what threats or responsibilities Russia must face that require such expenditure. Must be all those former USSR territories that Russia still plans to invade. Or maybe Russia is just afraid that Lithuania will invade it.
