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US President Barack Obama has proposed to keep the Pentagon's budget essentially flat for the next ten years, but Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to increase defense spending massively, according to an analysis. According to the analysis by Doyle McManus, an American journalist, Romney wants to increase the defense budget by more than 50 percent over current levels, according to one estimate, which could mean almost two trillion dollars in additional military spending over ten years. According to Los Angeles Times, Romney said the country needs about 100,000 more active-duty military personnel than the current 1.4 million, even though U.S. forces have left Iraq and have begun to withdraw from Afghanistan . According to analysis, Romney's argument is that only increased U.S. military power can guarantee peace in the world. "A strong America is the best deterrent to war that has ever been invented," he had told veterans in San Diego last month. He said his goal was "to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world." According to the analysis, the biggest problem with Romney's defense budget is that it does not add up with the rest of his platform, which calls for decreasing federal spending overall, while also lowering taxes, and, at the same time, balancing the budget. "It's just not realistic, and that's being generous," said Todd Harrison, an analyst at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "It would require a dramatic increase in defense spending to reach these targets. If you combine it with tax cuts and a commitment to avoid cutting Medicare, there's no way to do it without creating a much higher deficit," he added. Using Congressional Budget Office estimates for future GDP, Romney's plan would boost core defense spending to about 945 billion dollars in 2021, about 53 percent more than the 618 billion dollars proposed in Obama's defense plan for that year. Romney plans for a bigger defense budget only make that problem worse.

Analyst questions Romney's excessive defence budget plans