Here’s a question:
How much does the US actually pay for its army and all the military operations that
they carry out day after day all over the world?
Well, that’s precisely what we will try to answer in this video.
And there’s no debate: The military industry is one of the most opaque, most influential
and most powerful industries in the United States.
[Well... in the United States and practically anywhere else in the world, too.]
So, answering the question I asked at the beginning, means opening a debate with rather
large implications.
That military operations bill could be hundreds of billions of dollars.
But with that warning, let’s see what’s happening within the corridors of both the
Pentagon and the Capitol.
Talking about the US army assumes taking exorbitant figures into account, as well as huge bureaucratic
and political machinery.
So big and so opaque that we are practically talking about a parallel government.
See, in 2015 a report made by the Pentagon itself stated that they had to pay tens of
billions, and I repeat, tens of billions of dollars each year, for extra costs caused
by bad management practices in the Armed Forces.
Bad practices such as paying private contractors more money than would be expected in a competitive
market.
“We’re going to be in peril because we’re spending dollars like it doesn’t matter.”
Robert L. Stein Managing Director, Chartwell Capital Management and former chairman of
the Defense Business Board.
And, don’t think that it’s only the big military industry companies, those that produce
fighters, missiles and other military equipment, not at all.
A good part of all those billions that evaporate each year come from activities such as accounting,
logistics and human resources.
You heard that right!
In fact, the bureaucracy of the US Armed Forces is so big that it employs no less than a little
over 1 million people.
1 million people!
Take a look at this Washington Post graphic:
(CHART)
As you can see, the US army has almost as many people in its offices, doing administrative
activities, as it does people who are preparing for war or performing security or training
tasks.
And all this, of course, comes at a cost: almost a quarter of the military budget is
invested in these types of tasks... that are well... let's say important...
but... a quarter?
In other words, all this bureaucracy, by itself, counts as the third largest military budget
in the world, which wouldn’t be far behind the second, China.
And that's not all.
According to a study by the Department of Defense itself, published in October 2017,
approximately 1 out of every 5 installations that the Pentagon has, does nothing, they
are idle… they could be closed with no military consequences and save them many millions of
dollars... but it isn’t quite supported by the politicians in Washington.
As you can see, everything that has to do with the Pentagon and the US Department of
Defense, involves talking about gigantic, hyper-bureaucratic and very, very expensive
structures.
Well, as we will see later in this video, all this waste is very important in the political
debate.
But now, let's see how much money these military adventures really cost the United States.
The United State’s military adventures aren’t really strange.
If we count the Cold War, the United States has been virtually at war every year since
1941.
And besides, since the end of 2001, the US military has been actively in combat every
year... and you know what?
It doesn’t look like things will change in the near future.
Syria, operations in the Indian Ocean, in Africa, in Yemen, in Eastern Europe...
and above all, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Can you imagine how much these conflicts have cost?
Well, pay attention, because the numbers are… scandalous.
But first a side-note. he annual defense budget is one thing... and the operating budget is
another.
That is, when we hear about how much the US spends on its army, the cost of wars and military
operations themselves aren’t usually taken into account.
Well, the fact is that since 2001, US taxpayers have spent, just on those military adventures,
a whopping 1.7 billion dollars.
1.7 billion!
More than the current economy, Canada's GDP and almost as much as Italy's.
Put another way, in today's dollars, that is more than twice what the Vietnam War cost
or 5 times the cost of the Korean War.
But if you think that this figure is high... just wait because we aren’t done.
The cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, for example, isn’t over yet... and I’m
not only referring to the military expenditures that lie ahead…
I’m also referring to the costs that have already occurred but which the federal government
will have to pay in the future:
Costs such as long-term medical care for ex-combatants injured in combat, expenses for veterans,
the costs of the debt incurred to finance the war, equipment replacement, etc., etc.
In total, estimates state that these two wars alone will end up costing between 4 and 6
trillion dollars.
That is a lot of money!
To get a better idea of just how much money, it’s equivalent to all military expenditures
for every European NATO country in the next 15 to 23 years.
Come on, all these military adventures are truly a problem.
But, you know what?
I think taking a look at this bill would help the US be more prudent in the future.
For example, when visiting the United States, something that draws our attention is the
poor state of its infrastructure: roads, metros, railroads, etc., etc.
In fact, the infrastructure issue is becoming a serious problem.
Well, using only what the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost, the United States could have
the best infrastructure in
the world.
So far, I think it’s quite clear just how much Washington’s military adventures around
the world have cost the American people.
Now, let’s see how much the Federal Government really spends every year in Defense.
And I will say in advance, this might be surprising.
(THE TRUE MILITARY EXPENDITURE)
We all know, more or less, that the Us defense budget is by far the largest in the world.
Take at a look at 2017, for example, where, as we saw a moment ago, we have to add about
560 billion dollars, plus about 60 billion more for operating expenses.
This is approximately 3 times the military expenditure of China and 9 times the military
expenditure of Russia.
However, these amounts don’t include all of the expenses that the military world generates
for the US government.
Consider, for example, the cost of medical treatment for those wounded in combat or the
cost of veteran expenses.
Take a look at this graph:
Yes, as you can see, if we take all these expenses into account, the Armed Forces’
expenses rise above 900,000 million dollars per year!
900,000 million dollars!
And we still need to consider national security expenses, like financing intelligence agencies,
such as the CIA.
But, even if we only take the Department of Defense and nuclear weapons budget, that is
620 billion dollars, we can see how the military effort in GDP terms is one of the largest
in the world.
However we look at it, these numbers are exorbitant...
But before we move on from this question, wait a moment… because US military dominance
is somewhat less impressive when we consider the following factors:
First, price difference, that is, you can’t buy the same things with $1 in the US that
you could with $1 in China, for example.
If we correct this, we would see that the US military expenditure would be equal to
the sum of China and Russia’s military expenditure.
It's still a lot but it's not as impressive.
And second, and this is very important, if we take the trends of recent years into account.
Allow me to explain, in constant dollars, that is, adjusting for inflation, real defense
expenditures have fallen since 2010 by 25%
The largest reduction in decades.
And in a way, this is what is greatly worrying many analysts and politicians in Washington,
especially the Republican Party.
Could it be that despite all the money that the US is spending today on defense, it isn’t
enough?
Let's see.
(A WANING POWER?)
Since the fall of the Soviet Union…
and the consequent end of the Cold War, as could be expected, the size of the United
States Armed Forces has decreased substantially.
We’re talking about fewer submarines, fewer aircraft carriers, fewer bombers, fewer soldiers,
etc., etc.
However, new equipment has arrived, such as the F22 "raptor"; the B2 bomber, the recent
F35; a new class of aircraft carriers, new cruisers, or, among other things, high precision
drones and missiles.
Well, all this technological renovation has two consequences:
On one hand it has increased the US’s military capabilities, but on the other hand, it has
altered equipment and operational costs.
And of course, as we’ve seen, the budget has been decreasing for years.
“Years of underfunding have given us a weakened force that, despite the hard work of our brave
troops, is ill-equipped to handle the missions we keep throwing at it.”
Edwin J. Feulner, founder and president of The Heritage Foundation.
Due to all of this, the Republican Party and also, it must be said, a large part of the
Democratic party, seem to have something quite clear: the military budget has to be increased.
The ex-candidate to the presidency and famous Arizona Senator, John Mccain, who incidentally
is the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the Senate, is one of the politicians who
is most committed to this issue, and has proposed raising the military budget to 800,000 million
dollars.
They say that the current scarce budget, for example, caused the accidents that the U.S.
Navy has had in the Pacific.
“US Navy relieves admiral in charge of 7th Fleet in wake of deadly disasters at sea”.
Washington Post.
As well as new emerging threats, such as that of North Korea or an increasingly strong China,
something we explored here at VisualPolitik, are forcing them to renew their entire strategic
infrastructure.
And I can already say that it won’t be cheap.
Only redoing and modernizing their nuclear arsenal, that is nuclear weapons; bombers,
missiles and submarines, as Trump promised, implies an investment in the next 30 years
of more than 1.2 billion dollars.
However, my friends, if you spend more than anyone else, much more, and you still don’t
achieve your goals, shouldn’t you rethink your strategy?
Shouldn’t the US perhaps modify its role in some way so as not to be involved in so
many conflicts and crises throughout the world?
Is taking military expenditures much further a matter of National Security or does it interest
the large arms industry, which in one way or another generously finances lobbying and
political campaigns?
These are the questions.
The answers aren’t clear.
But now it’s your turn.
Do you think that the US should increase its military budget?
Leave your answer in the comments and in this survey.
I really hope you enjoyed this video, please hit like if you did and don’t forget to
subscribe to our channel for brand new videos every Monday and Thursday.
Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine!
And as always, thanks for watching!