'Russian aggression' is just a pretext for US politicians to further bloat 2020 defense budget, while Moscow won't even

Last Friday, President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2020. The NDAA lays out the annual budget and expenditures of the Department of Defense and allows Congress to set the policies under which the money appropriated can be spent. The modern American military budget, which for 2020 is slated to be a whopping $718 billion, underwrites the world’s largest military and defense enterprise. The NDAA for 2020 builds on the notion that the US is engaged in a major power confrontation with Russia and, as such, it mandates that the Pentagon devise and implement strategies designed to impose political, military, economic, budgetary, and technology costs on Russia.