Prepared by Peace Action Montgomery

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The Militarization of AmericaAt What Cost?

• Prepared by Peace Action Montgomery
• www.PeaceActionMC.org

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Topics

• The U.S. Military Budget
• Where Does the Money Go?
• What Does This Mean for You?
• Excessive Militarism A Threat to Democracy
• What You Can Do

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The U.S. Military Budget
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Total Federal Budget Both Discretionary
Mandatory
Source Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
5
Discretionary Budget AuthorityProposed FY 2010
All other includes spending on the environment,
science, transportation, international affairs,
and everything else except entitlements and debt.
Source National Priorities Project
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Discretionary BudgetBy Category, 2009
Source Center for Arms Control and
Nonproliferation, Briefing Book
7
2010Budget Peace Corps vs. Military Recruiting
Dollars
Sources American Forces Press Service Peace
Corps Web Site
8
U.S. Military Spending vs. Other Countries, In
Rank Order, FY 2009

Source Center for Arms Control and
Nonproliferation
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Growth in Military Spending
Military spending has grown an average of 9 per
year above inflation in the last eight years,
compared to 1.3 per year for domestic
discretionary programs.
Source Friends Committee on National Legislation
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U.S. Job Creation with 1 Billion Spending
Number of Jobs Created
Education Health Care Clean Energy
Consumption Military
Source Pollin Garrett-Peltier, 2009
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Montgomery County Citizens Share of Military
Expenditures, 2010

• About 3 billion
• or
• 2,000 per person

Source National Priorities Project
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With 3 Billion, Montgomery County Could Instead
Have Paid For

• Renewable electricity for 2.8 million homes
• Threat not addressed global warming
• 16,338 affordable housing units
• Threat not addressed homelessness and poverty

Source National Priorities Project
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With 3 Billion, Montgomery County Could Instead
Have Paid For

• Health care for 1.2 million children for one
  year
• Threat not addressed unnecessary death and
  illness of children
• 51,479 port container inspectors.
• Threat not addressed protection of borders

Source National Priorities Project
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Where Does the Money Go?
War costs Foreign military bases War profiteers
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Extraordinary War Costs

• Total U.S. defense spending in Afghanistan, FY
  2010 98 billion.
• 400 per gallon US militarys cost of gasoline
  in Afghanistan
• 1 million cost to send one soldier to
  Afghanistan for one year

Source Congressional Research Service Report RL
33110
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Afghanistan War Funding
Notes FY 01 02 combined FY 10 assumes 30
bn supplemental
Source Congressional Research Service Report
RL33110
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Afghanistan War vs. World Military Spending

• In 2010, the United States will spend more on the
  war in Afghanistan than every other country in
  the world spends on defense individually, with
  the exception of China.

Source Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation
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Total War CostsIraq and Afghanistan Through 2010

• Total direct cost of both wars by 2010 over 1
  trillion

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1 Trillion is a Thousand Billion

• Imagine that you spent 1 million/day beginning
  with the birth of Jesusto spend a trillion
  dollars, youd need to keep spending at that rate
  until mid-way through the 28th century.
• If you laid out end-to-end one trillion dollars
  in 100 bills, you could circle the Earth at the
  equator 39 times.

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Lets Tell Congress

• End the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan
• Stop funding war

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U.S. Foreign Military Bases

• The US maintains about 1,000 foreign military
  bases268 in Germany alone
• Foreign bases cost taxpayers about 100 billion
  per year
• These bases generate anger all over the globe and
  are a recruitment tool for our enemies

Source Foreign Policy in Focus
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Military Bases as the New Imperialism

• Our thousand bases constitute 95 of all the
  military bases any country in the world maintains
  on any other country's territory.
• Once upon a time, you could trace the spread of
  imperialism by counting up colonies. America's
  version of the colony is the military base.
• Chalmers Johnson

Source Chalmers Johnson
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Support the Movement to End Foreign Bases
International Network for the Abolition of
Foreign Military Bases www.no-bases.org
Source International Network for the Abolition
of Foreign Military Bases
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Outsourcing War The War Profiteers

• Definition Any person or organization that
  improperly profits from warfare or by selling
  weapons and other goods to parties at war.
• How do we define improperly?
• Military contractors dramatically increase their
  business and profits during war. Is this
  improper? Is it improper if they lobby for the
  war? If their products are shoddy? If they engage
  in fraud?

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War ProfiteersExample Lockheed Martin

• Percent of profits derived directly from US tax
  payers, 2008 84 (4.368 billion)
• Total compensation of Lockheed Martin CEO, 2007
  36,560,000
• Lockheed Martin paid lobbying, 2008 15,821,506

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Gates of Lockheed Martin in January, 2009 We
award Lockheed Martin the War Profiteer of the
Year Award
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What do Military Contractors Do?

• Feed troops
• Maintain facilities and equipment
• Transport cargo
• Wash clothes
• Provide security guards for bases and diplomats
• Contractors are doing things that the military
  used to doand doing them for a profit.

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Contractors vs. U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
December, 2009
Source Congressional Research Service Report
number R40764 DOD
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Contractors vs. U.S. Troops in Iraq, 2009
November, 2009
Source American Friends Service Committee
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Who Are Mercenaries?

• Mercenaries are soldiers-for-hire or private
  security contractors, typically provided by a
  large firm, such as CACI or Blackwater/Xe.
• They come from all over the world. Companies like
  Blackwater recruit especially from repressive
  regimes with bad human rights histories.
• .

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How Many Mercenaries?

• About 11 of DOD contractors in Iraq
  Afghanistan are mercenaries 13,924 in June, 09
  
• This does not include State Dept. mercenaries or
  CIA mercenaries.
• Under Barack Obama, in second quarter, 2009
• 23 increase in the number of Private Security
  Contractors in Iraq
• 29 increase in Afghanistan

Sources Congressional Research Service, DOD
Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan Center for
Globalization
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Outsourcing War Paying for It

• Annual pay for an experienced corporal with three
  years of service
• 19,980
• Annual pay for some mercenaries
• 150,000--250,o00/year

Source Huck Gutman
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Mercenary ContractorsExample Blackwater/Xe

• Killed 17 innocent Iraqi citizens in a massacre
  in 2007.
• Killed two Afghan civilians, in May 2009. How
  many more have they killed? We dont know.
• Blackwater/Xe is still receiving millions of U.S.
  taxpayer dollars to provide security for
  Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, for CIA contracts for
  extralegal work in Pakistan, and for other
  services.

Source The Nation, Jeremy Scahill
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Larger Impact of War Profiteering

• The United States has created a new system for
  waging war. . . You turn the entire world into
  your recruiting ground. You intricately link
  corporate profits to an escalation of warfare and
  make it profitable for companies to participate
  in your wars.
• We live amidst the most radical privatization
  agenda in the history of our country.
• Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill

Source Bill Moyers Interview
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U.S. Arms Dealer to the World
Arms Transfer Agreements with The World, By
Supplier, 2008
Source Congressional Research Service, Sept.
2009
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What Does this Mean for You?
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A Weaker Economy

• Money to finance wars displaces productive
  investment, for example to rebuild
  infrastructure.
• As a result of not making these investments,
  future output in the U.S. will be smaller.

Source Stiglitz and Bilmes, The Three Trillion
Dollar War
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Long-Term Costs To Be Paid Later

• Money to finance the wars is borrowed, largely
  from foreigners.
• This money has to be repaid, with interest. A
  huge national debt comes at the expense of
  domestic investment and future growth. Owing this
  debt to foreigners increases our vulnerability to
  foreign control of markets and policy.

Source Stiglitz and Bilmes, The Three Trillion
Dollar War
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Interest Costs of Iraq War
Interest costs alone are so high that they will
soon dwarf federal spending on other priorities
Source Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Majority Staff, Nov. 2007
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Future Costs

• Future costs, e.g., treating the wounded and
  costs of repair replacement of military
  equipment, are not factored in to the war costs

Source Stiglitz and Bilmes, The Three Trillion
Dollar War
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Direct Plus Indirect Costs of Wars Through
2008Total 20,900 Per U.S. Family
Direct war costs include all estimated budgeted
costs of the war to the federal government.
Indirect costs are all other economic costs.
Source Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Majority Staff, Nov. 2007
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Projected Costs of Wars Through 2017 3.5
TrillionAlmost 50,000 per Family
Source Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Majority Staff, Nov. 2007
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Total Estimated Costs of Iraq Afghanistan 3.5
Trillion

• With 3.5 trillion, we could send every
  18-year-old in the U.S. to college for four years
  for the next 133 years, covering fees, tuition,
  and room and board at a state university.

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Our Real Costs

• Because of excessive military costs
• We have less to invest in new businesses and new
  ways of doing thingsour economy is weaker
• We have less to spend on health, education,
  infrastructure, art and culture.
• We have to work harder and longer hours.

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Excessive MilitarismA Threat to Democracy
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Threat to Democracy

• Of all the enemies to public liberty war is . . .
  most to be dreaded because it comprises . . .
  the germ of every other. . . No nation could
  preserve its freedom in the midst of continual
  warfare.
• James Madison

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Threat to Democracy

• Militarism restricts freedom at home
• Freedom of speech (e.g., Eugene Debs imprisoned
  for several years because of opposition to World
  War I)
• Militarism expands government surveillance of
  citizens
• Patriot Act
• NSA data mining
• Illegal bypass of FISA court

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Threat to Democracy

• Militarism involves immense amounts of money that
  corrupt the political system
• Campaign contributions by war profiteers
• Lobbying by war profiteers and other corporate
  interests (e.g., oil)
• War leads to secrecy which is incompatible with
  democracy
• The State Secrets Privilege invoked 23 times
  by Bush used to dismiss entire cases
• The hiding of the Pentagon Papers during the
  Vietnam War

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Threat to Democracy

• Militarism erodes fundamental rights
• Denial of Habeas Corpus in War on Terror
• Legalization of torture
• Military Commissions Act of 2006, creating
  kangaroo courts
• Militarism demonizes certain citizens--who then
  lose basic rights
• Japanese-Americans in WW II
• Muslims and Arab Americans today

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Threat to Democracy

• Militarism leads to secret paramilitary
  organizations, illegal actions, and no
  accountability
• CIA Illegal violence in Chile, Iran, Central
  America, etc.
• Extraordinary rendition kidnappings and
  disappearances
• CIA Black Sitessecret prisons, beyond any law,
  any oversight

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Democracy and War

• As a result of the war, corporations have been
  enthroned, and an era of corruption in high
  places will follow, and the money power of the
  country will endeavor to prolong its reign by
  working upon the prejudices of the people until
  all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the
  Republic is destroyed.
• Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 1864

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What You Can Do
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Close Foreign Bases

• The Declaration of Independence criticizes the
  British "for quartering large bodies of armed
  troops among us" and "for protecting them . . .
  from punishment for any murders which they should
  commit on the inhabitants of these States.
• Foreign bases create enemies and make us less
  safe.

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End War Profiteering

• FDR , during World War II
• "I don't want to see a single war millionaire
  created in the United States as a result of this
  world disaster.
• FDR
• Supported broad increases in the corporate income
  tax
• Raised the excess-profits tax to 90 percent and
• Charged the Office of War Mobilization with the
  task of eliminating illegal profits.

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Stop Using Mercenariesand Other Contractors

• No accountability
• Much more expensive
• Makes war too easy

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Get Out of Iraq and Afghanistan

• These wars
• Are creating new enemies, making us less safe
• Are destroying our economy
• Are killing and maiming our young peopleas well
  as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Afghans, and
  Pakistanis
• Leave no bases or contractors behind!

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Cut the Military Budget

• We can cut the military budget substantially if
  we
• Close foreign military bases
• End occupations and wars
• Stop war profiteering
• End use of mercenaries and other contractors

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How Much Should We Cut the Budget?

• Rep. Barney Franks goal
• Cut the military budget by 25

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How Much Should We Cut the Budget?
Andrew Bacevich We should reduce the US
military budget to a level that does not exceed
the combined military spending of all ten of the
next highest-spending countries in the world.
Source National Priorities ProjectSecurity
Spending Primer
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Cut the Military Budget

• Foreign Policy in Focus publishes an annual
  Unified Security Budget that specifies other
  ways to cut the military budget and refocus
  spending for real security.
• Check it out www.fpif.org.

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Join Us!

• lobbying
• electoral work
• public education
• media outreach
• street activism

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Join Us You Can Lobby
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Join Us You Can Help Us Elect Progressive
Candidates
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Join Us You Can Help Us Inform Our Community
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Join Us You Can Help Us with Media Work
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Join Us In the Streets!
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Peace Action Montgomery www.PeaceActionMC.org
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Sources

• National Priorities Project http//www.nationalpr
  iorities.org
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
  http//www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?faviewid1258
  
• Just Foreign Policy http//www.justforeignpolicy.
  org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html
• Congressional Joint Economic Committee Majority
  Report. War At Any Price? http//jec.senate.gov/i
  ndex.cfm?FuseActionReports.ReportsContentRecord_
  idc6616188-7e9c-9af9-716c-d2ecbc191d33Region_id
  Issue_id
• Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferation,
  2009 Briefing Book, http//www.armscontrolcenter.
  org/assets/pdfs/fy09_dod_request_briefing_book.pdf
  
• War Resisters League http//www.warresisters.org/
  
• Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, The Three
  Trillion Dollar War, Norton Co., 2008.
• Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation
  http//www.armscontrolcenter.org/
• Refugees International http//www.refugeesinterna
  tional.org/content/article/detail/9679
• Iraq Coalition Casualties http//icasualties.org/
  oif/
• Congressional Research Service
  http//fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/129342
  .pdf
• Foreign Policy in Focus http//www.fpif.org/
• U.S. Budget http//www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
  fy2010/assets/summary.pdf-
• Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier , The
  U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic
  Spending Priorities , , Oct. 9, 2009
  http//www.fpif.org/pdf/0910Jobs_report1.pdf
• Congressional Research Service Report R40764,
  September 21, 2009, http//www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nat
  sec/R40764.pdf
• Congressional Research Service Report RL 33110,
  September 28, 2009 http//www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nats
  ec/RL33110.pdf

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Sources, continued

• American Forces Press Service, http//www.smallgov
  times.com/2009/05/proposed-military-recruiting-cut
  s-reasonable
• Peace Corps Web Site, http//www.peacecorps.gov/in
  dex.cfm?shellresources.media.press.viewnews_id1
  452
• John Feffer, Good War vs. Great Society,
  Foreign Policy in Focus, Sept. 22, 2009.
  http//www.fpif.org/fpifzines/wb/6433
• Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation,
  Putting Afghanistan Troop Increases in
  Perspective, Dec. 2. http//www.armscontrolcenter
  .org/policy/securityspending/articles/120209_afgha
  nistan_costs_in_perspective/
• Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation,
  Analysis of 2010 Defense Authorization
  Agreement, Oct. 21, 2009. http//www.armscontrolc
  enter.org/policy/securityspending/articles/102109_
  c111_fy10_authconf/
• Friends Committee on National Legislation,
  Keeping Military Spending in Balance with the
  Nations Priorities, March 16, 2009.
  http//www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id3538i
  ssue_id19
• Chalmers Johnson, Americas Empire of Bases.
  http//www.tomdispatch.com/post/1181/chalmers_john
  son_on_garrisoning_the_planet
• Huck Gutman, http//www.redrat.net/BUSH_WAR/mercen
  aries/index.htmmercs
• Jeremy Scahill, interviewed by Bill Moyers, June
  2009. http//www.organicconsumers.org/articles/art
  icle_18211.cfm
• American Friends Service Committee,
  http//www.countdowntowithdrawal.org/

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• Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation,
  The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request
  http//www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/securitysp
  ending/articles/fy09_dod_request_discretionary/
• Center for Globalization, David DeGraw, Af-Pak
  War Racket The Obama Illusion Comes Crashing
  Down, Dec. 9, 2009 http//www.globalresearch.ca/
  index.php?contextvaaid16410
• Congressional Research Service, DOD Contractors
  in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sept. 2009
  http//www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40764.pdf
• The Nation, Jeremy Scahill, The Secret US War in
  Pakistan, Nov. 23, 2009 http//www.thenation.com/
  doc/20091207/scahill
• The National Priorities Project
  http//www.nationalpriorities.org/Publications/NPP
  _Security_Spending_Primer.pdf

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The following slides are extras, originally
developed for this presentation, but which I
decided not to use. Some people may want to use
these, however, depending on specific needs.
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U.S. Discretionary Budget, FY 09
FY 2010 military spending is projected to be
almost 9 greater than FY 2009. National
Defense in chart does not include veterans
benefits4 more.
Source Budget of the U.S. Government, FY2009,
Analytical Perspectives, Table 27-1
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Discretionary Budget, FY 09
Source Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation
79
Outsourcing WarContractors vs. Troops in
Afghanistan
Source Congressional Research Service, DOD
Contractors
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How Much?

• FY 2010 national security budget
• 716 billion (including expected supplemental)
• Total is 8.8 higher than in FY 2009
• National security budget includes DOD, nuclear
  weapons and related defense activities, and Iraq
  and Afghanistan wars

Source Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation
81
How Else Could We Spend 1 Trillion?

• We could double funding for the National Cancer
  Institutefor 100 years
• We could pay for a new Marshall Plan--ten times
  over
• We could fund the UN Millenium Development Goals
  16 times over

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DOD Contracting Procurement Budgets, FY 00
FY 08
Source Center for Arms Control and
Nonprolieration
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Comparative War Costs
As of Oct. 2008
Source National Priorities Project
84
Federal Spending on War vs. Other Priorities,
2007
Source Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Majority Staff, Nov. 2007
85
Jobs Created with 1 Billion Spending
Number of Jobs with Annual Wages Between 32,000
and 64,000
Total Jobs Created
Education Health Care Clean Energy
Consumption Military
Source Pollin Garrett-Peltier, 2009