2008 Military Spending  (US$ Billion)
     
1 United States 711.0   
2 France 61.6   
3 United Kingdom 61.3   
4 China 61.0   
5 Russia 50.0   
6 Japan 48.9   
7 Germany 45.9   
8 Italy 40.1   
9 Saudi Arabia 31.1   
10 Turkey 30.9   
11 South Korea 28.9   
12 India 26.5   
13 Australia 24.8   
14 Brazil 24.0   
15 Canada 18.7   
16 Iraq 17.9   
17 Spain 17.7   
18 Netherlands 12.0   
19 Poland 11.8   
20 Taiwan 10.5   
21 Israel 9.4   
22 Greece 7.9   
23 Pakistan 7.8   
24 Singapore 7.1   
25 Sweden 6.3   
26 Iran 6.3   
27 Mexico 6.1   
28 Norway 5.7   
29 North Korea 5.5   
30 Chile 5.2   
31 Thailand 5.0   
32 Indonesia 4.7   
33 Argentina 4.3   
34 South Africa 4.1   
35 Belgium 4.0   
36 Venezuela 4.0   
37 Portugal 3.5   
38 Colombia 3.3   
39 Egypt 3.3   
40 Denmark 3.3   
41 Vietnam 3.2   
42 Kuwait 3.0   
43 Algeria 3.0   
44 Austria 3.0   
45 Romania 2.9   
46 Czech Republic 2.8   
47 Finland 2.8   
48 Switzerland 2.5   
49 Azerbaijan 2.5   
50 Morocco 2.3   
51 Ukraine 2.1   
52 Angola 2.0   
53 Peru 1.8   
54 Malaysia 1.7   
55 Sri Lanka 1.6   
56 United Arab Emirates 1.6   
57 New Zealand 1.5   
58 Slovakia 1.4   
59 Jordan 1.4   
60 Hungary 1.4   
61 Philipines 1.3   
62 Libya 1.3   
63 Ireland 1.3   
64 Serbia 1.2   
65 Georgia 1.2   
66 Croatia 1.1   
67 Bangladesh 1.0   
68 Yemen 0.9   
69 Syria 0.9   
70 Nigeria 0.7   
71 Bulgaria 0.7   
72 Qatar 0.7   
73 Cuba 0.7   
74 Bahrain 0.6   
75 Lithuania 0.6   
76 Sudan 0.6   
77 Lebanon 0.5   
78 Armenia 0.5   
79 Belarus 0.4   
80 Ethiopia 0.4   
81 Cyprus 0.4   
82 Uruguay 0.4   
83 Slovenia 0.4   
84 Tunisia 0.4   
85 Madagascar 0.3   
86 Botswana 0.3   
87 Brunei 0.3   
88 Kenya 0.3   
89 Estonia 0.3   
90 Oman 0.3   
91 Côte d'Ivoire 0.2   
92 Albania 0.2   
93 Bosnia & Herzegovina 0.2   
94 Luxembourg 0.2   
95 Cameroon 0.2   
96 Kazakhstan 0.2   
97 Eritrea 0.2   
98 Uzbekistan 0.2   
99 Uganda 0.2   
100 Dominican Republic 0.2   
101 Guatemala 0.2   
102 El Salvador 0.2   
103 Equatorial Guinea 0.2   
104 Panama 0.2   
105 Namibia 0.1   
106 Bolivia 0.1   
107 Zimbabwe 0.1   
108 Afghanistan 0.1   
109 Zambia 0.1   
110 Guinea 0.1   
111 Repbublic of Macedonia 0.1   
112 Senegal 0.1   
113 Cambodia 0.1   
114 Mali 0.1   
115 Nepal 0.1   
116 Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.1   
117 Benin 0.1   
118 Honuras 0.1   
119 Turkmenistan 0.1   
120 Latvia 0.1   
121 Congo 0.1   
122 Ghana 0.1   
123 Costa Rica 0.1   
124 Mozambique 0.1   
125 Burkino Faso 0.1   
126 Chad 0.1   
127 Liberia 0.1   
128 Trinidad & Tobago 0.1   
129 Rwanda 0.1   
130 Paraguay 0.1   
131 Maldives < 0.1   
132 Niger < 0.1   
133 Malta < 0.1   
134 Burundi < 0.1   
135 Swaziland < 0.1   
136 Lesotho < 0.1   
137 Burma < 0.1   
138 Fiji < 0.1   
139 Tajikistan < 0.1   
140 Nicaragua < 0.1   
141 Jamaica < 0.1   
142 Togo < 0.1   
143 Djibouti < 0.1   
144 Iceland < 0.1   
145 Haiti < 0.1   
146 Mongolia < 0.1   
147 Somalia < 0.1   
148 Tanzania < 0.1   
149 Mauritania < 0.1   
150 Kyrgyzstan < 0.1   
151 Belize < 0.1   
152 Papua New Guinea < 0.1   
153 Central African Republic < 0.1   
154 Malawi < 0.1   
155 Seychelles < 0.1   
156 Sierra Leone < 0.1   
157 Comoros < 0.1   
158 Mauritius < 0.1   
159 Laos < 0.1   
160 Guinea-Bissau < 0.1   
161 Moldova < 0.1   
162 Bhutan < 0.1   
163 Suriname < 0.1   
164 Cape Verde < 0.1   
165 Guyana < 0.1   
166 East Timor < 0.1   
167 Bermuda < 0.1   
168 The Gambia < 0.1   
169 San Marino < 0.1   
170 São Tomé & Príncipe < 0.1   

Note: Figures are for 2008 or most recently available.

U.S. MILITARY IN PERSPECTIVE


Many countries go to war, but the United States is unique in both the size and power of its military and its propensity to use it.

Since the end of WWII, the U.S. has spent more than $15 trillion to build up its military might. This is more than the cumulative monetary value of all human-made wealth in the United States.




The U.S. government has spent more on its military over the last four decades than the value of all the houses, office buildings, factories, schools, hospitals, airports, hotels, shopping centres, power plants, machinery, water and sewage systems, roads, bridges, railroads, etc., in the United States put together!



The U.S. alone is responsible for close to half of the world's military spending and spends more than 60 times as much as the combined spending of the so-called "rogue states," Iran and North Korea.

Adding up the current Pentagon budget, the nuclear weapons budget of the Energy Department, the military portion of the NASA budget, foreign military "aid" and other military-related expenses, the U.S. spends close to three-quarters of a trillion dollars on its military each year.

More than 50% of the U.S. government's annual discretionary spending - the money that the President and Congress have direct control over - goes to the military. By comparison, 7% goes to education and 6% to healthcare. Cutbacks in social programs have caused far more devastation in the U.S. than any foreign army ever has.



Foreign Interventions

Every few years, the U.S. sends soldiers, warships, and warplanes to fight in distant countries. The U.S. government also finances, arms, and directs local "proxy" militias to fight on its behalf to overthrow governments not compliant to "U.S. interests."  Since the end of WWII, the U.S. has carried out over 200 military operations in which it has struck the first blow.

Foreign military interventions usually serve the interests of global corporate investment, regardless of the human and ecological costs to the region. Rather than being guided by a devotion to moral principles of any kind, they serve to fulfill the following objectives:

  • making the world safe for U.S. corporations
  • preventing the development of any society that might serve as a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model
  • extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an area as possible
  • repaying defence contractors who have contributed generously to members of Congress

In many countries, U.S. troops have remained as an occupying army after invading, enforcing U.S. dictates and putting down local protests and rebellions. The list of those declared to be "enemies" and "terrorists" has included many people fighting for democracy in their country - like Nelson Mandela.



Military Bases

U.S. control over most of the planet is supported by an integrated network of military bases and installations which covers all the continents, oceans, and outer space. Hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed at strategic locations to be deployed into military action.

In addition to 4500 military bases on its own territory, the U.S. has more than 1000 bases in over 130 countries. Of these foreign bases, 761 are acknowledged by the Pentagon and at least 300 more are known to exist, many of them espionage bases. In total, the U.S. has military personnel - combatants and civilians - stationed in over 150 countries worldwide.




Following its bombing of Iraq in 1991, the U.S. acquired military bases in:
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Kuwait
  • Bahrain
  • Qatar
  • Oman
  • United Arab Emirates

Following its bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the U.S. acquired military bases in:
  • Kosovo
  • Albania
  • Bulgaria
  • Macedonia
  • Hungary
  • Bosnia
  • Croatia

Following its bombing of Afghanistan in 2001-2, the U.S. acquired military bases in:
  • Afghanistan
  • Pakistan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Uzbekistan
  • Tajikistan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Georgia
  • Yemen
  • Djibouti

Following its bombing and occupation of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. has set up over 100 military bases throughout the country of which at least 14 will remain permanently.



September 11, 2001

Few people anywhere in the world - including the Middle East - support bin Laden's terrorist methods. But they share his anger at the U.S. for supporting corrupt dictators (including Saddam Hussain during his worst crimes), for supporting Israel at the expense of the Palestinians, and for imposing U.S. dictates on the Middle East through violence and brutal economic sanctions.

Until now, the true costs of the wars the U.S. has waged overseas have largely been hidden. U.S. taxpayers had to pay the military bills but the death and destruction was all overseas. That changed on September 11 - for the first time, the violence reached the U.S.




What America is tasting now is something insignificant compared to what we have tasted for scores of years. Our nation (the Islamic world) has been tasting this humiliation and degradation for more than 80 years. Its sons are killed, its blood is shed, its sanctuaries are attacked and no one hears and no one heeds. Millions of innocent children are being killed in Iraq without committing any sins....

To America, I say only a few words to it and its people. I swear to God, who has elevated the skies without pillars, neither America nor the people who live in it will dream of security before we live it here in Palestine and not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad, peace be upon him.

- Osama bin Laden,  October 7, 2001        



The "war on terrorism" cannot possibly end terrorism. Even if bin Laden is killed, continued U.S. aggression will inspire others to drive the U.S. out of the Middle East, resulting in more terrorist attacks on Americans.

"Homeland defense" has become a pretext for eliminating civil rights protections long deemed inconvenient by the FBI and other police agencies. The Pentagon and the CIA now expect to have a freer hand in carrying out wars and violent covert operations around the world.

Despite the hypocrisy of Washington's response to the September 11 attacks, it has already produced major benefits for Bush and his friends, not the least of which is practically a blank cheque for the military.



Corporate News Media

Corporate-controlled mass media in the U.S. are businesses just like any other - they make a profit by selling a product to a buyer. For news media, the product is an audience and the buyer is another business. In effect, large corporations sell audiences to other large corporations. The product is you, as a viewer of media content and a consumer.

To avoid alienating the buyer of their product - other corporations - major news media generally conceal from their viewing audience the corporate interests behind much of U.S. government policy, especially foreign policy.

Despite claims that the press has an adversarial relationship with the government, the news media generally follow Washington's official line. The spectrum of debate falls in the relatively narrow range between the Democratic and Republican parties. While Washington policy-makers assert that U.S. overseas interventions are necessary to protect "our interests," the news media seldom ask what "our interests" are, and who is actually served by them.

As demonstrated in Iraq, Panama, Nicaragua, and countless other cases, defending U.S. interests usually means imposing neoliberal capitalist ecomonic policies on nations that might strike a course independent of, or unfriendly to, transnational corporate investment. This is never the reason given in the national media. Rather, it is always a matter of "stopping aggression," "protecting national security" or punishing leaders who are said to be dictators, drug dealers, or state terrorists.

The major news media expose little about the U.S. role in financing, equipping, training, and directing the repressive military forces in countries around the world. Many of the CIA's "covert operations" - bombings, assassinations, paramilitary massacres - are terrorism by any definition.

Yet major news media will never describe such acts as "terrorism" - or describe U.S. foreign policy as "aggressive" - as long as governemnt and military leaders proclaim they have noble intentions. The media in the U.S. will sometimes criticize their government's foreign policy as "ill-defined" or "overextended" but never as lacking in virtuous intent.





Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran's president has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, "Israel must be wiped off the map." Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made.

read more...











U.S. Military Operations Since WWII
     
1945 South Korea Support for massacre of dissidents on Cheju Island. 100,000+ civilians killed
1946 Iran Troops deployed in northern province
1946-1949 China Major U.S. army presence of 100,000 troops fighting, training and advising local combatants
1947-1949 Greece U.S. forces wage a 3-year counterinsurgency campaign. Thousands killed
1948 Italy Heavy CIA involvement in national elections
1948-1954 Philippines Commando operations, "secret" CIA war. Thousands killed
1950 Bahamas Biological weapons tests (with Canada and U.K.)
1950-1953 Korea Major forces engage in war in Korean peninsula. Thousands killed
1952 Cuba Support for military coup and death squads. Thousands killed
1953 Iran CIA overthrows government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh. Hundreds killed
1954 Vietnam Financial and materiel support for colonial French military operations
1954 Guatemala CIA overthrows the government of President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. 100,000+ killed
1958 Lebanon U.S. marines and army units totaling 14,000 land
1958 Panama Clashes between U.S. forces in Canal Zone and local citizens
1959 Haiti Marines land
1960 Congo CIA-backed overthrow and assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
1960-1964 Vietnam Gradual introduction of military advisors and special forces
1961 Cuba CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion
1962 Cuba Naval blockade and attack on industrial facility. 400 killed
1962 Laos CIA-backed military coup
1963 Iraq Supplies military government with list of dissidents to be eliminated. Thousands killed
1963 Ecuador CIA backs military overthrow of President Jose Maria Valesco Ibarra
1964 Panama Clashes between U.S. forces in Canal Zone and local citizens
1964 Brazil CIA-backed military coup overthrows the government of Joao Goulart and Gen. Castello Branco takes power. 75,000+ killed
1964-1975 Vietnam Large commitment of military forces including air, naval and ground units numbering up to 500,000+ troops in a full-scale war, lasting for ten years. 3 million+ killed
1965 Indonesia CIA-backed army coup overthrows President Sukarno and brings Gen. Suharto to power. Thousands killed
1965 Congo CIA-backed military coup overthrows President Joseph Kasavubu and brings Joseph Mobutu to power
1965 Dominican Republic 23,000 troops land
1965 Peru Sets up military camps to eliminate dissidents
1966 Ghana CIA-backed military coup ousts President Kwame Nkrumah
1966-1967 Guatemala Extensive counterinsurgency operation
1969-1975 Cambodia CIA supports military coup and begins intensive bombing for 7 years along the border with Vietnam. 600,000 killed
1970 Oman Counterinsurgency operation, including coordination with Iranian marine invasion
1970 Lebanon and Syria Supports Israeli air strikes. Hundreds killed
1971-1973 Laos Invasion and bombing by U.S. and South Vietnames forces. Hundreds of thousands killed
1973 Chile CIA-backed military coup ousts government of Pres. Salvador Allende with dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. 5,000+ killed
1975 Cambodia Marines land, engage in combat with government forces
1975-1999 East Timor Support and arming (with U.K. and Australia) of Indonesian invasion and genocide. 200,000 killed
1976 Nicaragua Support and arming of un-elected government in massacre of dissidents. Thousands killed
1976-1984 Argentina Support and arming of military regime. 30,000 killed
1976-1992 Angola Military and CIA operations
1980 Iran Special operations units land in Iranian desert but helicopter malfunction leads to aborting of planned raid
1981 Libya Naval jets shoot down two Libyan jets over the Mediterranean
1981-1992 El Salvador CIA and special forces begin a long counterinsurgency campaign
1981-1990 Nicaragua CIA directs exile "Contra" operations and U.S. air units drop sea mines in harbors. 50,000 killed
1982-1984 Lebanon Marines land and naval forces fire on local combatants
1982-1986 Guatemala Support and arming of brutal military government. 50,000 killed
1982-1990 Chad Training and arming of military regime. Thousands killed
1983 Grenada Military forces invade Grenada. 500 killed
1983-1989 Honduras Large program of military assistance aimed at conflict in Nicaragua
1984 Iran Two Iranian jets shot down over the Persian Gulf
1986 Libya U.S. aircraft bomb the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, including direct strikes at the official residence of Pres. Muamar al Qadaffi. 70+ killed
1986 Bolivia Special Forces units engage in counterinsurgency
1986-1994 Colombia Support and financing of regime that eliminates dissidents. 20,000+ killed
1987-1988 Iran Naval forces block Iranian shipping, and civilian airliner shot down by missile cruiser. 286 killed
1988 Iraq Support and arming of regime which uses poison gas on its Kurdish population. 6,000 killed
1989 Libya Naval aircraft shoot down 2 Libyan jets over Gulf of Sidra
1989 Philippines CIA and Special Forces involved in counterinsurgency
1989-1990 Panama 27,000 troops as well as naval and air power overthrow government of Pres. Noriega. 4,000 killed
1990 Liberia Troops deployed
1990-1991 Iraq Major military operation including naval blockade and air strikes, and troops attack Iraqi forces in occupied Kuwait. 200,000 killed
1991 Haiti CIA-backed military coup ousts Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide
1991-2003 Iraq Control of Iraqi airspace in north and south of the country with periodic attacks on air and ground targets
1992-1994 Somalia Special operations forces intervene. 7,000 killed
1992-1994 Yugoslavia Major role in NATO blockade of Serbia & Montenegro
1993-1995 Bosnia Active military involvement with air and ground forces. Thousands killed
1994-1996 Haiti Troops depose military rulers and restore Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office
1995 Croatia Krajina Serb airfields attacked
1995-1998 Turkey Arming of regime that kills dissidents and its Kurdish population. 27,000 killed
1996-1997 Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) Marines involved in operations in eastern region of the country
1997 Rwanda Arming of regime that kills dissidents. 6,000 killed
1997 Liberia Troops deployed
1998 Sudan Air strikes destroy country's major pharmaceutical plant
1998 Afghanistan Attack on targets in the country and support for Taliban government. 2,000+ killed
1998 Iraq Four days of intensive air and missile strikes
1999 Yugoslavia Major involvement in NATO air strikes. Thousands killed
2001 Macedonia NATO troops shift and partially disarm Albanian rebels
2001 Colombia Arming and training of regime that kills dissidents. 18 killed
2001-2002 Afghanistan Air attacks and ground operations oust Taliban government and install a compliant regime. Thousands killed
2003 Algeria Financial and military support for unelected government. Hundreds killed
2003 Iraq Invasion with large ground, air and naval forces ousts government of Saddam Hussein and installs pro-U.S. regime. Thousands killed
2003 Bolivia Support for government that kills dissidents. 40 killed
2003 Uzbekistan Support for dictator
2003-present Iraq Occupation force of 150,000 troops in protracted counterinsurgency war. 1.2 million+ killed
2004 Haiti Marines land and CIA-backed forces overthrow Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 8,000+ killed
2006 Pakistan Air strikes. 18 killed
2007 Somalia Air strikes and overthrowing of government (with Ethiopia). 2,000+ killed
2008 Somalia Air strikes. Dozens killed
2008 Pakistan Air strikes. Hundreds killed





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