Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Report: Military Spending Tops $1T Mark
By MATTIAS KAREN
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 7, 2005; 3:40 PM
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Global military spending in 2004 broke the $1 trillion barrier for the first time since the Cold War, boosted by the U.S. war against terror and the growing defense budgets of India and China, a European think tank said Tuesday.
Led by the United States, which accounted for almost half of all military expenditure, the world spent $1.035 trillion on defense, equal to 2.6 percent of global gross domestic product, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.
Besides its regular defense budget, the United States has allocated $238 billion since 2003 to fight terrorism, according to the report. "These appropriations are now assuming extraordinary proportions," said SIPRI researcher Elisabeth Skons, who co-authored the organization's annual report.
Adjusted for inflation, the figure for global military spending in 2004 is only 6 percent lower than its Cold War peak in 1987-1988, Skons said.
Total military expenditure grew 6 percent in 2004 over the previous year, in line with an average annual increase since 2002, the institute said. South Asia, northern Africa and North America made the largest increases. In Western Europe and Central America, military spending fell.
But the report said the figures might be on the low side as countries are increasingly outsourcing services related to armed conflicts, such as military training and providing logistics in combat zones, without classifying them as military expenditures.
Such outsourcing has more than doubled in the last 15 years, and was estimated to have reached $100 million during 2004, SIPRI researcher Caroline Holmqvist said. The researchers predicted it would double again from current levels by 2010.
"This is a global phenomenon," Holmqvist said, adding it was difficult to provide exact figures. "This is an industry that is not largely regulated."
As a region, South Asia saw the biggest rise in military expenditure, largely because India boosted its defense budget by 19 percent in a move that could provide a "real setback" to the country's attempts at ending a decades-long conflict with neighbor Pakistan, Skons said.
"Just a few years ago, it looked like they would be able to reach a peaceful settlement," she said. "Now India has increased (military spending) again."
The report is based on official national budgets in most cases, and independent studies for countries like China, where, Skons said, "it's obvious that the official figures are very wrong."
The government-funded institute estimated that China increased it defense budget by about 10 percent in 2004, to $35.4 billion _ a figure that is about 70 percent above the government's official figure, Skons said.
Petter Stalenheim, co-author of the report, said India's large increase in military spending might be a way of challenging neighbor China as the supreme power in Asia but there was little sign of a growing arms race between the countries.
"Objectively, you can see that both India and China are increasing their military expenses by a rather large percentage," Stalenheim said. "But at the same time, neither one says they're directed toward each other."
The report also said China, which traditionally imported military equipment from Russia, is increasingly turning to other countries.
"(China) is very much dependent on Russia, and being dependent is not something that any country would like," SIPRI researcher Siemon Wezeman said. "What their wish would be is to become an independent producer of everything they need."
However, it may take as long as 50 years for China to catch up with the West in arms production, he said.
The United States accounted for 47 percent of all military expenditure while Britain and France each made up 5 percent of the total. In all, 15 countries accounted for 82 percent of the world's total military spending.
The arms trade also grew sharply, with the top 100 makers of weapons increasing their combined sales by 25 percent between 2002 and 2003, the report said. Those companies sold weapons and arms worth $236 billion worldwide in 2003, compared to $188 billion a year earlier. The United States accounted for 63 percent of all arms sales in 2003, the report said.
While conflicts in the Middle East were responsible for much of military spending, the rest of the world is also laying out more on security, the report said.
"It's hard to put the United States in the center, or blame everything on the U.S.," said Alyson J.K. Bailes, the think tank's director.
"Despite all the ongoing problems, the state of world security is a great deal better than it was in the Cold War," Bailes said.
___
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...700585_pf.html
Thats a lot of Money!!! :dry:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
WHoo Soo much money wow lol LOL BEAT THAT BILL GATES lol
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Why dont they just start a large fire and kill everyone to feel "safe"
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Wow, 1 Trillion? Just wow. Everyone feels so insecure, seriously, what the hell were they thinking?
Quote:
Dumbass politician #1: ummmm, lets increase our national defense budget by 1 million % so we can teach those terrorists sons' a bitches a lesson =D
Dumbass politician #2: considering that these terrorists are way the hell over there, and the chance of them attacking us in our own soil is slim to none [insert vague reference to september 11 to scare public into supporting dumbass politicians], but what the hell, lets increase national budget altogther than =D=D
Biggest dumbass of them all: umm hey guys!? guess what,, ummm i heard from my next door neighbour, that umm, iraq is full of terrorists, lets invade them!11
Dumbass politican: but that would mean we'd have to increase our budget even more! just brilliant!!
and so all the other countries that are afraid of getting attacked and just wanting to show off their "muscles" increase their military budget as well.
The end.
this just makes me sick :dry:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpt_azad
Quote:
Dumbass politician #2: considering that these terrorists are way the hell over there, and the chance of them attacking us in our own soil is slim to none [insert vague reference to september 11 to scare public into supporting dumbass politicians], but what the hell, lets increase national budget altogther than =D=D
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links? The son went to an Al Qaeda training camp. He allegedly planned attacks on hospitals and large grocery stores. But I guess we probably shouldn’t worry about that because “they are way the hell over there”.
Wake up and get a clue. Did you miss the part when “they” declared war on us?
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpt_azad
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links? The son went to an Al Qaeda training camp. He allegedly planned attacks on hospitals and large grocery stores. But I guess we probably shouldn’t worry about that because “they are way the hell over there”.
Wake up and get a clue. Did you miss the part when “they” declared war on us?
everyone know the N/W/O has all this set up.
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
And they still can't find OBL :frusty:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanB
And they still can't find OBL :frusty:
I can't remember who said it, but it was an official... when asked why after 4 years we still can't find bin laden the reply was...."because he is hiding":rolleyes:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidcc
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanB
And they still can't find OBL :frusty:
I can't remember who said it, but it was an official... when asked why after 4 years we still can't find bin laden the reply was...."because he is hiding":rolleyes:
I think that may have been Rummy.
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidcc
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanB
And they still can't find OBL :frusty:
I can't remember who said it, but it was an official... when asked why after 4 years we still can't find bin laden the reply was...."because he is hiding":rolleyes:
at least it was an honest answer :lol:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
Quote:
Originally Posted by vidcc
I can't remember who said it, but it was an official... when asked why after 4 years we still can't find bin laden the reply was...."because he is hiding":rolleyes:
I think that may have been Rummy.
The pet-name you've given him almost makes the guy sound lovable :ermm:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by manker
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
I think that may have been Rummy.
The pet-name you've given him almost makes the guy sound lovable :ermm:
You find Rummies loveable.
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr JP Fugley
Quote:
Originally Posted by manker
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
I think that may have been Rummy.
The pet-name you've given him almost makes the guy sound lovable :ermm:
You find Rummies loveable.
Sounds like a name you'd give to a wet nosed Cocker Spaniel.
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
Quote:
Originally Posted by cpt_azad
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links? The son went to an Al Qaeda training camp. He allegedly planned attacks on hospitals and large grocery stores. But I guess we probably shouldn’t worry about that because “they are way the hell over there”.
Wake up and get a clue. Did you miss the part when “they” declared war on us?
Why dont you?
How many Americans are killed by Americans?
Yet the Justice Departments budget is 5% of the Defence Budget.
Your Country spends about 50% of ALL defence spending in the world (and those figures do not count what is paid to Haliburton etc according to that report), yet wont fund a Universal Health System for its own citizens or pump money into Departments that would save many more US lives...
Thats just perverse.. :ph34r:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links?
One of these was arrested because he was a Dr and said he'd treat members of Al Queda if he went to Saudi.
Fancy that, being arrested for saying he'd follow the oath he took... :ph34r:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by manker
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr JP Fugley
Quote:
Originally Posted by manker
The pet-name you've given him almost makes the guy sound lovable :ermm:
You find Rummies loveable.
Sounds like a name you'd give to a wet nosed Cock
Past this I don't agree with you :snooty:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rat Faced
Quote:
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links?
One of these was arrested because he was a Dr and said he'd treat members of Al Queda if he went to Saudi.
Fancy that, being arrested for saying he'd follow the oath he took... :ph34r:
Wrong. The other men were from Pakistan and were arrested for immigration violations.
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rat Faced
One of these was arrested because he was a Dr and said he'd treat members of Al Queda if he went to Saudi.
Fancy that, being arrested for saying he'd follow the oath he took... :ph34r:
Wrong. The other men were from Pakistan and were arrested for immigration violations.
Then we're talking about a different two men, the two i'm on about are US citizens.... police state :P
However, with your two.. which was it?
Immigration Violations or Terror Links..? There was no military spending involved if they were arrested for immigration violations 1st...
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
It's a good time to be invested in the military industrial complex that shit don't sprout like mushrooms. :cool2:
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBank_Hank
Then what about the men in California who were arrested today for terror links? The son went to an Al Qaeda training camp. He allegedly planned attacks on hospitals and large grocery stores. But I guess we probably shouldn’t worry about that because “they are way the hell over there”.
Wake up and get a clue. Did you miss the part when “they” declared war on us?
you can "allegedly" this and "allegedly" that until the cows come home. wake up and get a clue until they're actually convicted of something. and then wait another year after that for the U.S. Justice Department to review the case and make sure it wasn't just a matter of the prosecution fabricating evidence, burying other evidence, and railroading the defendants like they did with The Disneyland Case.
one day after your post:
Quote:
The FBI also dropped the suggestion, included in the first version of the affidavit, that the Hayats were considering hospitals and large food stores as terror targets.
At Wednesday's news conference, Slotter said that there was no evidence that those facilities have been primarily targeted "or are especially vulnerable to attack." He said the FBI had no evidence to date of any specific plans, targets or timing of a possible attack.
one day. it took the FBI ONE DAY to withdraw that claim. you should've been back in here on June 9th, to correct yourself. you know, "oops, my mistake. just 'cause there are allegations, that doesn't prove that a couple of guys in Lodi, California are planning to attack supermarkets. you really can't believe everything you hear."
Re: Military Spending Tops $1 Trillion
I never get why a country needs a larger army then to defend its own. If america for example shouldn't be so concerned with other countries and use the offensive-budget for homeland security, than almost all terrorist attack would be averted. And also, no more hate would be seeded in for example the middle east. So lesser and lesser terrorist would arise to attack america. A positive circle would be more evident than a negative circle (as in my opinion it is now).
And if america has any brains at all they would do everything to avoid a cold war with China. Because a billion (?) people will own america in time. So better make friends and give China the respect they deserve.
My country only has 2 billion on defense. And we do feel safe, in contradiction to the USA with an enormous budget.
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