US President George W. Bush on has signed a new $355.4 billion spending bill for 2003.
He described the bill, the sharpest increase in military spending in nearly a generation, as necessary to equip the US military to "defeat any foe."
The bill amounts to a 12 per cent, or $37.5 billion, increase over the previous year.
It is the sharpest hike in military spending since the early 1980s, under then-president Mr Ronald Reagan, who oversaw an unprecedented eight-year military buildup his supporters credit with ending the Cold War.
"Today's American forces are ready and able to deploy to any point in the globe to defeat any foe, and we're going to keep it that way," Mr Bush said at a signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.
He cited the demands placed on the US military in the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as a principal reason for the increase in spending.
"We're asking young Americans to serve in many places far from home and at great risk. We owe them every resource, every weapon and every tool they need to fulfill their missions," said Mr Bush, who declared a war on terrorism after the attacks.
"We've asked our military to prepare for conflict in Iraq if it proves necessary," said Mr Bush, whom the US Congress has authorized to wage war on Baghdad once he decides diplomacy has failed.
AFP