World Military Spending
Global military expenditure and arms trade form the largest spending in the world
at over $950 billion in annual expenditure, as noted by the prestigous Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SPIRI), for 2003.

The main reason for the increase in world military spending is the massive increase
in the United States, which accounts for almost half of the world total.

US: Pentagon Stalls on Banning Contractors from Using Forced Labor
A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for
forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five
defense lobbying groups [including Halliburton's KBR] oppose key provisions and a
final policy still appears to be months away.

The Private Mercenary Contractor - GOP Gravy Train
From Blackwater to CACI, mercenary companies in Iraq have a warm and cozy
relationship with the Republican politicians who are employing them.
Private armies have become ubiquitous in Iraq, supplying everything from support
services to mercenary soldiers to interrogators. While Halliburton's contracts for
logistical support have been widely reported, until the firefight in Fallujah in late
March left four Blackwater Security employees dead, the public knew little about the
extent to which the estimated 20,000 private military forces in Iraq are participating
in direct military action.

Vote Your Tax Dollars

The Trillion-Dollar Defense Budget Is Already Here
March 15, 2007 by Robert Higgs

When President George W. Bush presented his budget proposals recently for the
fiscal year 2008, he emphasized that the nation’s security is his highest priority,
and he backed up that declaration by proposing that the Pentagon’s outlays be
increased by more than 6 percent beyond its estimated outlays for fiscal 2007, to a
total of more than $583 billion. Although many Americans regard this enormous
sum as excessive, hardly anyone appreciates that the total amount of all defense-
related spending greatly exceeds the amount budgeted for the Department of
Defense. Indeed, it is roughly almost twice as large.

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the
only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned
in dollars and the losses in lives.... It is conducted for the benefit of the very few,
at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." --
Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC 1935