31 December 2004	Friday	18 Ziqa'ad 1425

WASHINGTON, Dec 30: The US Defence Department wants to take some 60 billion dollars off its budget over the next six years, marking the first slowdown in US military spending since the September 11, 2001 attacks , the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Under the plan - which would require congressional approval - the Pentagon would retire one of the Navy's dozen aircraft carriers, purchase fewer amphibious landing ships for the Marines and delay the creation of an expensive army combat system featuring high-tech weapons, among other measures, the Times said.

The planned cuts are in response to White House demands for all federal agencies to trim spending requests for the 2006 fiscal year, which are to be presented to lawmakers in early 2005, the daily noted.

The White House has come under increasing pressure to stem growing deficits while continuing to fund the costly military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which now cost more than five billion dollars a month combined.

Pentagon spending has ballooned since the 9/11 attacks, surging 41 percent to around 420 billion dollars this year, the Times said. The plan would cut up to 10 billion dollars from the Pentagon's 2006 budget alone. -AFP