A final note.
George has announced that he's increasing US defence spending to some $500billion per annum.. this level to be reached by the end of the decade..
Shows confidence if nothing else..
In the 2004 budget.. he's calling for an increase in military spending of some 4%, roughly $15billion..
Two and a half trillion American dollars in this budget, being presented to a Congress that still hasn't approved this years yet..
This kind of spending on the military hasn't been seen since the Cold War ended.. and it might be George sees a use for the military for a while..
Remember your portfolio..
The US spends as much on defence, as do the next 20 leading countries, combined. That's a lot of nuts and bolts.