The US spends as much on it's military as all of the rest of the world combined

[panader0]

Yep. More than China, Russia, England, France, Germany, and every other country combined. (I think the number was 49% of the world's military spending) Our escapades abroad are wrong. Wrong for the nations we invade/occupy. Wrong by setting up political leaders in the nations we invade/occupy. Wrong morally and according to international law. Wrong because the money we waste on these wrong wars prevents our country from domestic spending on health care, education, infrastructure and much, much more. It's not about terror. That's bullshit. It's about big money made by a select few, and as always, fueled by the lives of the poor. I had the pie chart (about military spending) bookmarked somewhere but can't find it.
It's not about national security. We, as a nation would be MORE secure if we didn't try to control the world. The wars are making more enemies by the minute. I am ashamed of the US. Bring our soldiers home. Fix our problems with the enormous amount of money saved by peace.

[rfranklin]

1. It's our biggest industry...

And it is built on mandatory consumption. That's why we have to have these "wars" every few years. And an endless War on Terror? Priceless!

[Rhiannon12866]

5. +1

Whenever I hear about the very real and frightening deterioration of our infrastructure, or the millions of Americans who lack basic health care, my blood boils, thinking of the billions of American dollars squandered on unnecessary wars... :grr:

[timeforpeace]

13. The occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan are expensive. Yemen's not cheap.

[Rhiannon12866]

14. When we were first hearing about the cost of Iraq, that sent me over the edge...

I never understood the point of going there. And that's when we thought that there was a "mission" in Afghanistan. But eight years later?! What we are still doing there is a mystery to me. President Carter boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan... "Those who do not heed the lessons of history..." :-(

[Oregone]

2. Terrorism is the post-cold war excuse to keep feeding the bloated monster

[KansDem]

3. You'll get no argument out of me...

It's about big money made by a select few, and as always, fueled by the lives of the poor.

That's the USofA! "Land of the free; home of the brave."

It's amazing how much bullshit we've been fed since WWII...

[spanone]

4. think about it....the powers that be are not going to let the biggest industry in the u.s. go away

ever

[DailyGrind51]

6. Eisenhower is saying, "I warned you!"

[G_j]

17. very much worth watching

2 min 30 sec

Dwight D. Eisenhower exit speech on Jan.17,1961.Warning us of the military industrial complex.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

[madrchsod]

7. one of our biggest exports!

fuck taking care of us....we have to fund the war machine.

[BeFree]

8. Yep

And the rest of the established world is financing us.

Either they are doing it so that one day they can pull the money away leaving us broke.

Or they finance us so that they can have peace while they go about reaping the world's resources. That we are their surrogate soldiers.

Could be a combination of the two.

Of course, it is the richest 2% that are made rich from our military actions.

[dhpgetsit]

9. The Military Industrial Complex always wants more, and it's unpatriotic to deny them.

When is it going to be patriotic to make SENSIBLE investments again?

[Kaleva]

10. "(I think the number was 49% of the world's military spending)"

If we spend 49% and the rest of the world spends 51%, how do we spend more then the rest of the world combined?

[panader0]

16. Sorry, you are right. I got carried away.

The pie chart linked below shows the real number for 2008.
I tried to edit the OP but was told the time to edit had expired.

[Sherman A1]

11. Yes,

and has for a very long time.

[Cerridwen]

12. Pie chart for you; click link enclosed so as not to steal bandwidth. :D

http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending#InContextUSMilitarySpendingVersusRestoftheWorld

[panader0]

15. Thanks, and I stand corrected.

The chart I saw was a couple of years ago, and right here on DU.

[Cerridwen]

18. Ya know? 48% and almost equal to the entire rest of the planet

is still pretty ugly.

Please continue to keep this in our face. We can afford to kill people but we can't afford to heal people.

"Money trumps peace."

Indeed.

[PSzymeczek]

19. Here are a couple:

http://www.truemajority.org/csba/priorities.php

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Well, we wouldn't want to waste that money on something useful or anything. K&r

[Kaleva]

21. China has the world's largest number of troops under arms.

Almost twice as many troops as the US has.