In 2012, the U.S. approved a defense budget of 645.7 billion dollars. That amount also included funding for the Pentagon, the Department of Energy-administered nuclear weapons activities, and the war in Afghanistan.
According to the Center For Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, That total was greater than the next 15 countries combined which include China, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, India, Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Iran (23.9 billion), Italy, Israel, Canada.
In that group only Iran could be considered a definite adversary and we out spend them by over 600 billion dollars…And though China is often cited as the country’s next great military adversary, U.S. military spending currently doubles that of all of the countries in Asia combined.
and in total the United States consumes over 40 percent of total global military spending.
So my question is simply this, At what point does a country’s defensive spending become offensive?
Um…yes… still have to convince those who believe WWII carried us out of the Great Depression – – or those who make money off war….
I’m thinking of my dad’s history lessons – regarding the Northeastern Native American Tribes, who were matriarchal in nature….
“The wise women of the council decided whether something was really worth going to war over or not. They were the homeowners, the food providers – and they decided whether the summer harvest was worth wasting on some insult or not…”
I miss my Dad ….
And logical policies….
🙂
I noticed the copy of your post that came in my email had all of that gibberish at the beginning that WordPress seems to be adding to my posts. I discovered if I click on “preview” before I post, I can edit that nonsense out. What a pain!
What is the US of A so afraid of or do your military advisers know something the rest of the world is missing?
Eisenhower warned us. We didn’t listen.
The defense spending is only an euphemism for offensive deterrent, which in itself is an euphemism for ” you try to hit us will blow your country out off this planet. I see a whole bunch of countries out there that are becoming a superpower, there can only be one superpower in the world, it´s just nature. I´d rather be the U.S of A than China, which by the way is fucking you guys up through cyber-war, it´s the new war. Spend, better be safe than sorry.
Of course we must also acknowledge that the Defense budget is the only “jobs” plan the Republicans in Congress are willing to fund…
Just out of curiosity, I went to Wikipedia to find out how many conflicts the US has been involved in during my lifetime (I was born in 1949). The list is so long, I stopped counting!
When it is ridiculous. When the Congress forces the army to buy outdated tanks. When it forces the Air Force to buy outdated planes.
staggering stats!
Now. Or am I the only one offended that the US spends more on war than on education.
As usual you ask the most pertinent questions. x