Info from Global Issues: http://globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp

• US Defense spending now exceeds $400 billion, not counting supplemental appropriations to fund the war in Iraq.  This amount is almost equal to the combined total of all the other nations in the world, although the USA is only 5% of the global population.  Global military expenditure now is about US $950 Billion.
• The US defense budget exceeds the total spent by the next 23 largest military spending nations in the world.
• The USA military expenditure is more that eight times that of China, and 29 times that of the combines spending of the seven "rogue" nations of Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Sudan.( All the above statistics come from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)

• Regarding the Iraq war:
• As of 3/25/05, the cost of the war in Iraq to US taxpayers has exceeded $158.4 billion.
• Related to US military recruitment:

• IndyMedia (March 2005) reported that African-American volunteers for the US Army declines 41% between 2001-2005(that is, from 22.7% of the recruitment pool to 13.9%)
• Related to the human cost of war to U.S. servicepeople:
• The New England Journal of Medicine (2005) reported that. of the US Marines and Army troops stationed in Iraq:
• 95% had been shot at
• 57% reported killing an enemy combatant
• 95% reported seeing dead bodies or human remains
• 17% of returning Army veterans suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and 50% of these men and women are not expected to recover

All of these figures are from the National Priorities Project:

Cost of Iraq War to Date:

4/3/2005: 160 billion dollars

This amount of expenditure could have funded:

•  6 years of global anti-hunger programs

•  1,446,714 additional units of public housing in the USA

•  basic immunization for every child in the world for 53 years

•  paid for 21,281,000 kids in Head Start

•  funded worldwide AIDS programs for 16 years


Recruiting:

The military spends $1.9 billion each year on recruiting.

The military regards you as part of the Individual Ready Reserve, and therefore subject to call-up, for eight years from the date of your arrival at basic training, even if you only signed up for two years.

The largest amount of money mentioned in the military recruitment ads - $50,000 - is offered only to those GIs who take jobs the military has a hard time filling.(American Friends Service Committee: http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/Default.htm)


Veterans:

According to a 1990 study by Bryant and Wilhite, the average veteran will earn 85 cents less per hour (about $1700 less per year) than non-veteran peers. (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)

Army Times reports that over 50,000 unemployed veterans are on the waiting list for the military's "retraining" program. The VA estimates that 1/3 of homeless people are vets. (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)

Only 12% of male veterans and 6% of female veterans surveyed made any use of skills learned in the military in their civilian jobs. (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)

Racism:

People of color make up 1/3 of the armed forces but only 16% of all officers. (Department of Defense's almanac -2000)

In Operation Desert Storm over 50% of the front-line troops were people of color, largely Latino. (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)

Only 3% of Latinos become commissioned officers while their white counterparts make up 81% of officers. According to a June 21, 1999 Army Times article, "Most enlisted Hispanics are in the lower pay grades, with the biggest concentrations in the private first class and corporal/specialist ranks." (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)


Sexism:

90% of women in the military reported sexual harassment (Dept. of defense 1996)

1 out of every 3 women in the military reported being raped (Murdock & Nichols 1995)

1 out of 5 women in the military are prevented from getting a raise because of refusal to provide sexual favors (Murdoch & Nichols 1995)


Sexual Orientation:

871 incidents of anti-gay harassment were documented in 2000 (SLDN 2000)


Education:

Over 6.6 billion of financial aid available from the private sector goes unused every year, mainly because students don't know how to find it. (Military Myths from Paper Tiger TV)

The average federal aid from Pell grants and Stanford student's loans is 70% more than the G.I. Bill. (Rand 2000)

In order to receive money for education, G.I. Bill participants must pay $100 per month (non-refundable) during their first year. (Veteran administration 2001)

Two-thirds of all recruits never get any college funding from the military. Only 15% graduated with a four year degree. (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors)

Between 1995 and 1999 tuition at four year colleges grew by 65% meanwhile the maximum award under the G.I. Bill increase by 16%. (Rand 2000)