double the spending

The Pentagon’s 2008 spending blueprint seeks $31.9 billion for classified programs, nearly double the $19.1 billion the U.S. military was devoting to “black” initiatives in 2001, according to a new analysis. That’s 18 percent of the 2008 acquisition total of $176.8 billion, according to the July 25 analysis, compiled by Steven Kosiak of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). It includes $14.4 billion for procurement, 14 percent of the total; and $17.5 billion for research and development (R&D), or 23 percent of the total, the analysis said.