Military Industrial Complex

Click the title to see how big it is.

    A military-industrial complex (MIC) is the devotion of massive resources

    to the military that has dangerous consequences that we refuse to acknowledge. 

Military-industrial complex refers to the  relationships between governments, national armed forces, and industrial support they obtain from the commercial sector in political approval for research, development, production, use, and support for military training, weapons, equipment, and facilities within the national defense and security policy. It is a type of iron triangle. (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military-industrial_complex)

Republican Platform 2008

Democrat Platform 2008

Both continue the military-industrial complex.  Click on the platform to see for yourself.

Eisenhower warns us of the military industrial complex. .

January 17, 1961

 

The Military Industrial Congressional Complex

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Jay of the Real News about the military industrial complex.

 

How much are we spending?  $766.5 billion?

William D. Hartung of the New America Foundation's Arms and Security Initiative and Fred Kaplan, defense correspondent for Slate.org. They agree that the Department of Defense requested $481.4 billion for salaries, operations (except in Iraq and Afghanistan), and equipment. They also agree on a figure of $141.7 billion for the "supplemental" budget to fight the "global war on terrorism" -- that is, the two on-going wars that the general public may think are actually covered by the basic Pentagon budget. The Department of Defense also asked for an extra $93.4 billion to pay for hitherto unmentioned war costs in the remainder of 2007 and, most creatively, an additional "allowance" (a new term in defense budget documents) of $50 billion to be charged to fiscal year 2009. This comes to a total spending request by the Department of Defense of $766.5 billion.

 

Here are expenses that Hartung and Kapland did not consider in their $766.5 billion:

 

2008

 

Department of Homeland Security: $46.4 billion for defense of the country.

 

Department of State: $25.3 billion is spent on foreign military assistance

(primarily for Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Republic, Egypt, and Pakistan).

 

Department of Energy: $23.4 billion goes toward developing and maintaining nuclear warheads

 

Department of Veterans Affairs:  currently gets at least $75.7 billion, 50% of which goes for the long-term care

of the grievously injured among the at least 28,870 soldiers so far wounded in Iraq and another 1,708

in Afghanistan. The amount is universally derided as inadequate.

 

Department of Justice: $1.9 billion for the paramilitary activities of the FBI

 

Department of the Treasury: ; $38.5 billion for the Military Retirement Fund.

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: $7.6 billion for the military-related activities. 

 

Add to the the well over $200 billion in interest for past debt-financed defense outlays.

This brings U.S. spending for its military establishment during 2008, to at least $1.1 trillion.

 

2001 military spending was $333bn. 2009’s is approximately $706bn

 

2009

National Defense Appropriations Bill: $487.7 billion for 2009, which is $28.4 billion above the Fiscal Year 2008, according to John P. Murtha.

 

Other expenditures as we find them.

 

How many military bases do we have, 700 and 800 military bases Worldwide?

 We are not sure.

 

One trillion per year (1000 billion) go to the Military Industrial Complex.

Chalmers Johnson, How to Sink America

 

 

Paul Jay of Realnews.com: Military-Industrial Complex

 

Massive US military budget passed

Chalmers Johnson on Real News, October 4, 2008, Part 1.

 

Next are the two articles that Chalmers Johnson refers to in Part 1:

 

We Have the Bailout Money--We're Spending It on War

By Chalmers Johnson,

September 29, 2008

 

Going Bankrupt

Why the Debt Crisis Is Now the Greatest Threat to the American Republic
By Chalmers Johnson, January 22, 2008
 

 

 

 

October 5, 2008

Last days of the American Republic?

Chalmers Johnson: USA must cut back on military spending and build green infrastructure or face ruin Pt2

 

October 6, 2008

The encirclement of Russia

Chalmers Johnson: "We have to back down unless we are looking for real confrontation with Russia" Pt 3

 

Chalmers Johnson Speaking Freely

 

 

 

The world's top 10 military spenders and the approximate amounts each country currently budgets for its military establishment are:

1. United States (FY08 budget), $623 billion
2. China (2004), $65 billion
3. Russia, $50 billion
4. France (2005), $45 billion
5. United Kingdom, $42.8 billion
6. Japan (2007), $41.75 billion
7. Germany (2003), $35.1 billion
8. Italy (2003), $28.2 billion
9. South Korea (2003), $21.1 billion
10. India (2005 est.), $19 billion
 

World total military expenditures (2004 est.), $1,100 billion
World total (minus the United States), $500 billion

 

 

 

Calvin Leman sends this message to

Mike Crapo, Larry Craig, and Mike Simpson on November 2, 2008

 

Constitution Article I Section 9:

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

Where are the Receipts and Expenditures for these agencies published?

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIS)

National Security Agency (NSA)

 

Calvin Leman sends this message to

Mike Crapo, Larry Craig, and Mike Simpson on November 4, 2008

I have already sent the first part of this question. Now the question continues:

Constitution Article I Section 9:
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
Where are the Receipts and Expenditures for these agencies published?


Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIS)
National Security Agency (NSA)
Pentagon budget

My questions on military spending that are not a part of the CIA, DIS, NSA, or Pentagon are:


Department of Energy $16.4 billion in fiscal 2005 spent on nuclear weapons?
Department of Homeland Security’s outlays of $41 billion for the defense of the United States against terrorism?
Department of Veterans Affairs for the lifetime care of the seriously wounded $68 billion?
Military Construction Appropriations Bill of $12.2 billion for fiscal 2005?
Supplemental appropriations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Defense Appropriations Bill?
Interest payments by the Treasury to cover past debt-financed defense outlays going back to 1916.? Robert Higgs, Crisis and Leviathan, and other sources estimate interest payments amount to $138.7 billion.
 

 

A People's History of American Empire by Howard Zinn

 

 

If the Military Industrial Complex causes bankruptcy in the United States,

What might happen?

When it happened in Germany in 1923, the Nazi party took over; when it happened in China

in 1948, the communist party took over the following year. 

It happened in Argentina in 2001-2, because they devalued their currency,

which was pegged to the dollar. Civil unrest throughout Argentina ensued,

forcing the resignation of four presidents within the space of barely two weeks --

thus allowing an alliance of Peronist politicians to take control.

 

If the dollar is devalued (1 USD = 0.783699 Euros 11/12/2008), as is going on now,

what might happen to the USA?

PowerPoint presentation on Military Industrial Complex.

News Reports on the Military Industrial Complex

 

 

 

Antinuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott looks at the indebtedness of the current Bush administration to the nuclear arms industry and warns of the enormous dangers inherent in allowing weapons manufacturers to dictate foreign policy.