World's Largest Military Budgets

[hangloose]

The U.S. accounts for almost half of all military spending in the world.


($U.S. Billions)
United States 416.0
Russia* 65.0
China* 47.0
Japan 42.6
U.K. 38.4
France 29.5
Germany 24.9
Saudi Arabia 21.3
Italy 19.4
India 15.6
South Korea 14.1
Brazil* 10.7
Taiwan* 10.7
Israel 10.6
Spain 8.4
Australia 7.6
Canada 7.6
Netherlands 6.6
Turkey 5.8
Mexico 5.9
Kuwait* 3.9
Ukraine 5.0
Iran 4.8
Singapore 4.8
Sweden 4.5
Egypt* 4.4
Norway 3.8
Greece 3.5
Poland 3.5
Argentina* 3.3
U.A.E.* 3.1
Colombia* 2.9
Belgium 2.7
Pakistan* 2.6
Denmark 2.4
Vietnam 2.4
North Korea 2.1
Czech Republic 1.6
Iraq 1.4
Philippines 1.4
Portugal 1.3
Libya 1.2
Hungary 1.1
Syria 1.0
Cuba 0.8
Sudan 0.6
Yugoslavia 0.7
Luxembourg 0.2
Fear Beyond Reason?

According to USAID, there are 115 democratic countries
in the world. None of them spend near as much as the
United States does to protect their democracy.

Located between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans the
United States has one of the safest locations on earth.



http://www.borgenproject.org/Defense_Spending.html

[HamdenRice]

1. Oddly leaves out South Africa

SA's defense budget is in the R29 billion range, or about US $5-6 billion. Wonder what else has been neglected.

[Moloch]

2. How does Luxembourg....

All tucked away down there, spend $200 million on its military every year?

It boggles the mind!

You see, conservatives are for smaller government and cutting government spending.

[undergroundpanther]

3. Ametica is also a leading

Manufacturer of TORTURE equipment,Could that be why we spend so much,the military is used to defend American torturers in high and low places the whole world hates.

"Amnesty has compiled a list of more than 80 U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of electro-shock weapons and restraints. Amnesty does not allege that any one or another of these companies is involved in the international trade in equipment used in torture. But Amnesty's report, "Stopping the Torture Trade," does provide numerous examples of U.S. products being used by torturers overseas, as well as in the United States."

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Torture/Torture_Trade.html

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT400082003

This military spending and torture equipment connection is in this context , is so shameful. In America slavery is here too..still it occurs in 2004.
..http://www-ucdmag.ucdavis.edu/sp04/feature_3.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E1FFB3F5D0C768EDDA80894DC404482

I wish We would defund the military,until they Stop torture.I wish all corporations that make torture equuipment were shut down and the Ceos of such horrors were NEVER allowed to get enough capital to be able to fund or create ANY private businesses again.
I wish Americans would rise up against the"father knows best" domination game and say no more power for abusers,no more trust for exploiters,no tolerance for torture,and stop ALL the bullies subjugating goodhearted vunerable people everywhere..

[killbotfactory]

4. What happens if you add up all the EU nations?

How would they match up?

[Groucho Marxist]

5. At one time this might have been true

It may once have been true that our location with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic on the the other afforded us a comfortable measure of safety and isolation, but reality is that this is no longer so true as it once was. YES, it DOES still apply, but not so much.

Cheap, readily available worldwide transportation combined with very loose regulation of our shores and points of entry make our borders less secure than many people would be comfortable with.


As for the military budget...based on the current state of affairs, obviously it's not enough. We do NOT currently have the capability to handle two regional conflicts at the same time, which was always our defense doctrine until the Clinton years.

And yet, despite the fact that our military is undermanned, still there are those who want to continute to close down still MORE of our bases and facilities, and many of those people are working in the Pentagon!

No country and no business ever shrank its way to greatness.

I know for certain that our defense industry and entire military logistical system is full of everything from minor problems to outright fraud, waste, and abuse on a titanic scale. I believe that if it could be cleaned up in these regards, we could get much more military ability for the same dollar value.

Groucho




"Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?"

[Goathead]

6. Thank God you didn't forget Poland!

With their little 3.5 billion dollar defense budget. Ain't that cute! Their trying to be just like us.