The Economy, the Military and the War on Terror

It is mostly agreed that one of the main reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union was a bloated military budget. Some estimate that 70% of their money went to their military industrial complex. Most agree that it was over 50%. It doesn’t take much to investigate what I just said.

Though some may wish to argue this, near 50% of our federal tax money currently is going to pay for past, present and future wars.

The Economic Disaster That is Military Keynesianism by Chalmers Johnson is a good read.

Excerpt:

….”It is virtually impossible to overstate the profligacy of what our government spends on the military. The Department of Defense's planned expenditures for the fiscal year 2008 are larger than all other nations' military budgets combined. The supplementary budget to pay for the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not part of the official defense budget, is itself larger than the combined military budgets of Russia and China. Defense-related spending for fiscal 2008 will exceed $1 trillion for the first time in history. The US has become the largest single seller of arms and munitions to other nations on Earth. Leaving out President Bush's two on-going wars, defense spending has doubled since the mid-1990s. The defense budget for fiscal 2008 is the largest since the second world war…..”

Another read from May of 2007:

Washington, DC: The Center for Economic and Policy Research released a report today estimating the economic impact of increased U.S. military spending comparable to the spending on the Iraq war. The report, presenting the results of a simulation from the economic forecasting company Global Insight, shows the increased level of military spending leads to fewer jobs and slower economic growth. Report

Of course by now we are all well aware of the warning that Dwight D. Eisenhower had for us all about the military industrial complex.

So my question is how much of this economic collapse be laid at the feet of our defense budget? Much I think. And this brings on another question. Are we fulfilling the desires of Osama bin Laden? In his Letter to America he stated his intent and later just before the 2004 elections he announced his plans for destroying America through economic strangulation. Is his plan working?

On edit:
Nothing in the campaign platforms of either Republican Senator John McCain or Democratic Senator Barack Obama suggests they plan to significantly reduce military spending.

McCain says the United States must enlarge the size of its armed forces. That alone will guarantee that operational and support costs, traditionally one of the highest categories of US military spending, stay high. Likewise, Obama supports plans to increase the size of the army by 65,000 soldiers and the marines by 27,000 troops.