Arms spending tops $1 trillion in '04

[Matt W]

As it says on the label...over $1 trillion spent on arms on '04:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4617721.stm

Scary thought.

[RickSp]

I have read one study that predicts that by the end of this year the US will spend more on weapons and the military than the rest of the world combined. I wonder if any empire in the history of the world could make that claim.

[IndieC]

Possibly the roman empire, but i seriously doubt any other could. Even the British Empire and Napoleon's empire weren't that bad.

[The Fyrdman]

Possibly the roman empire, but i seriously doubt any other could. Even the British Empire and Napoleon's empire weren't that bad.

I'm not so sure even the Romans could, there was still China, India, the clans of Japan. and back then few people had standing armies, every man was a soldier if needs be, so it's an unfair comparison.

It's a sad situation really, they lived in a far more dangerous and bloody time than we do now, yet we spend so much more on weaponry and warfare.

[ibm]

so whose money is it? ultimately it's our (taxpayers') money, yes? or we can pass on national debts like a blackhole in the form of highest-rated financial instrument (u.s. treasury notes) to our children for maybe decades to come if not centuries.

does the cost justify the benefit?

[Inferno]

Well IDM how much would u spend for your freedom and capitalism it says in the report that there only soending a $162 on every person world wide but yet the whole world isn't free plus its hard to fight a war if your contently being filmed by reports who are going to manipulate what you do even if you shoot and kill the man beacause he was running at you witha AK in his hand shoot ing at the repoter and him "IT WASN'T RIGHT TO KILL HIM THOUGH" as the reporter would basically say

[belverron]

The only countries who have comparable military technology have it because we sold it to them, yet we still pump money into R&D.

[mindclear]

"It's easier to make war when you talk peace." The great independent journalist I.F. Stone

[Libertarian]

The thing that I like is when the US military is saying that China should not be building up a big military. But than WE the US have a biggest military. When we say that it is bad for other countries and than do it ourselves we show how hipocrtitical we really are. We loose our image of being the good guys and start to loose.

[RickSp]

We loose our image of being the good guys and start to loose.

For the majority of the world, we have already lost any positive image. We are the global bully at best.

[ibm]

The only countries who have comparable military technology have it because we sold it to them, yet we still pump money into R&D.

isn't that what it is all about?

Well IDM how much would u spend for your freedom and capitalism it says in the report that there only soending a $162 on every person world wide but yet the whole world isn't free plus its hard to fight a war if your contently being filmed by reports who are going to manipulate what you do even if you shoot and kill the man beacause he was running at you witha AK in his hand shoot ing at the repoter and him "IT WASN'T RIGHT TO KILL HIM THOUGH" as the reporter would basically say.

sorry i can only vaguely understand what you try to say here. but let's illustrate it this way -

there are 10 households in a villlage. one of the 10, the only one, has the superpower. this one has tanks and missles to defend itself while all the neighbors only have shotguns and pistols. yet this only superpower is saying it everyday that it is threatened the most from possible intruders from both within and outside of the village.

don't you feel that's kinda funny?