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WORD COUNT
685
NOVEMBER 14, 2007
HERE’S WHAT AMERICA
REALLY SPENDS ON SECURITY – by Christopher Hellman
Back in February
2006, the Bush administration requested, and Congress later approved,
roughly $463 billion in funding for the Defense Department. But when it
comes to what American taxpayers really spend on national security, this
is just the tip of the iceberg. All told, the United States spent nearly
$1 trillion on security in fiscal year 2007, which ended on September
30.
In addition to the
money allocated to the Pentagon each year as part of the Defense
Department’s “base budget,” hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on
other federal programs that are a direct result of the United States
supporting and maintaining its military.
For example, the
United States spent $173 billion last year on the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and other costs the Pentagon says are related to the “Global
War on Terror.” According to the Congressional Research Service, $166
billion went to the Pentagon, $6 billion went to the State Department
and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and $1 billion went
to the Veterans’ Administration. So far this year, the White House has
requested $196 billion for similar war-related expenses.
The government also
spent $43 billion on homeland security, not including $17 billion funded
through the Defense Department budget. The additional money went through
a number of other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland
Security ($29 billion), the Department of Health and Human Services
($4.3 billion), and the Justice Department ($3.1 billion). Homeland
security funding is one of the fastest growing areas of federal
spending, quadrupling since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The White House
further revealed that it spent $43 billion on intelligence-related
activities last year. This announcement, the result of legislation
passed by Congress in 2006, was the first time in a decade the
government had officially released this figure. Roughly, 80 percent is
thought to be funded through the Pentagon’s annual budget, leaving an
estimated $8 billion in additional intelligence spending.
Veterans’ benefits
accounted for $73 billion in federal spending last year to provide for
those who’ve served their country in the past. Of this, $30 billion was
for hospital and medical care and $42 billion for disability pensions
and the G.I. education program. According to a recent analysis by the
Congressional Budget Office, the cost of caring for veterans of the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars could add $13 billion or more annually to this
total.
And the list goes on.
According to the White House, the government paid $433 billion in
interest on the national debt, and a conservative estimate puts the cost
of past military spending attributable to this debt at $99 billion
annually.
The government paid
$44 billion in pension benefits for retired military personnel. It also
provided $55 billion for pay and benefits for civilian employees of the
Defense Department (DoD), and a further $22 billion in pensions for
Pentagon retirees.
The State Department
provided almost $5 billion in military aid to foreign countries, and
over $1 billion for international peacekeeping operations. It provided a
further $420 million for such things as countering the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, combating terrorism, and clearing
landmines. The military’s space program accounted for roughly 20 percent
of NASA’s budget, or $3 billion.
In all, the United
States spent an estimated $990 billion last year on defense and other
security-related activities. And even THIS figure is incomplete. It
doesn’t include, for instance, pay and benefits for non-DoD federal
employees working on security issues for the Department of Homeland
Security, State Department, or Department of Justice or Treasury. Nor
does it include interest payments on past debt from paying veterans’
benefits or retirees’ pensions. It doesn’t include the majority of the
State Department’s operating budget, although we must assume that at
least some of our government’s diplomatic initiatives are directed at
promoting U.S. security.
Last year the total
federal budget was roughly $2.8 trillion dollars. Former Senator Everett
Dirksen is often credited with saying, regarding government spending,
that "a billion here and a billion there, and soon you're talking real
money." Well, in a $2.8 trillion annual budget, $1 trillion in security
spending IS real money.
--
Christopher Hellman
is a Military Policy Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and
Non-Proliferation in Washington, D.C. –
www.armscontrolcenter.org
-- A photo of Christopher Hellman is available
CLICK HERE
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