What happens when a nation's most influential lobby is defense contractors? $696 billion a year, nearly more than the rest of the world combined, is drained from U.S. taxpayers into defense contractors and war costs.
To an outside observer, the United States probably looks like an experiment in defense spending that went bad. Situated between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the United States has one of the safest locations on earth, yet nearly spends more on defense than the rest of the world combined. More appalling is the level of defense spending going into programs that the military doesn't need and specifcally asked congress to cut.
BIG SPENDERS
The world's largest military budgets
United States (including war and nuclear)
$696 billion
Canada
$19.8 billion
China
$83.5 billion
Russia
$86.0 billion
United Kingdom
$60.8 billion
France
$67.2 billion
Germany
$46.9 billion
Japan
$46.0 billion
Italy
$30.9 billion
Saudi Arabia
$38.2 billion
South Korea
$24.2 billion
Israel
$14.8 billion
Taiwan
$10.5 billion
2008 figures
Source: Center for Arms Control
...SOMEONE'S GOT TO SAY IT
What Potenial Enemies Spend
Iran
$9.6 billion
North Korea
$4.4 billion
As of 2010, the Iraq War has cost U.S. taxpayers $5,450 per person. (NPP)
