The figure of l.7 U.S. billion dollars a day is what the world spends for
military purposes.  The U.S. military expenditure is about 40% of that.  The
point that should be made is that the U.S. expenditure is greater than that
of the next 10 nations combined.  As other nations reduce their military
budgets and the U.S. does not, it appears that the U.S. military
expenditures will climb toward 50% of world military expenditures.

Victor Sidel, MD
Co-President, IPPNW



At 01:42 PM 10/12/98 EDT, DavidMcR@aol.com wrote:
>Bob,
>
>Thanks for your note. I also don't see how a $270 billion annual budget
>translates into l.7 billion a day. It may be (and if so should be explained)
>that this figure is arrived at by adding in the CIA and Black Budget spending
>and the funds the goverment does not list - interest on past wars, veterans
>benefits, etc. (WRL, I should make very clear, not only supports the spending
>needed to care for veterans but would certainly favor an increase in funding
>for VA hospitals, etc.).
>
>I couldn't agree more that accuracy is one of our few weapons. In this case I
>suspect but am not sure that the figure WRL uses is legitimately based on this
>calculation, which is more accurate than that released by the government,
>which doesn't want the full military cost to be known. I'm forwarding a cc of
>this to the WRL office so Ruth Benn can check it. (she is going frantic
>preparing for our national conference this weekend and the rest of us because
>of the 19th, so you may not get an answer).
>
>Peace,
>David McReynolds
>
>
>
><< Subj:	 (abolition-usa) Re: 
> Date:	10/12/98 9:43:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time
> From:	btiller@psr.org (Bob Tiller)
> Sender:	owner-abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com
> Reply-to:	abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com
> To:	abolition-usa@lists.xmission.com
> 
> You may want to reconsider your numbers.  The figure of $1.7 billion a
> day for U.S. military spending must be too high.  I believe that current
> military spending is about half of that figure.
> 
> I am very sympathetic with your efforts, but I don't think it helps our
> cause to use inaccurate numbers.
> 
> Good luck with your October 19th work.  Due to a prior commitment, I
> will not be able to participate.
> 
> Shalom,
> Bob Tiller
> 
> 
> 
> War Resisters League wrote:
> > 
> > PRESS ADVISORY
> > 
> > For Immediate Release   October 7, 1998
> > 
> > Contact: (on bus) John Reese (206) 617-0493 (cell phone)
> > 1-800-241-5654 (pager); Email: can@drizzle.com
> > 
> > ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS BUS ACROSS U.S. TO SHUT DOWN THE PENTAGON
>
>
>
> > John Reese from the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia (NACC) points
> > out, "the military spends $1.7 BILLION a day.  That's $1.7 billion per day
> > to build bigger and better
> > bombs rather than build schools for our children, build homes for the
> > homeless or protect the environment. One day of Pentagon spending could
>fund
> > 200 new elementary schools or house 136,000 homeless people or shelter and
> > counsel 56,000 battered women.  We can rebuild our natural and human
> > communities and provide for all our needs -- if we abandon our addiction to
> > militarism."
> > - more –
> > -
> > 
> >  - 2 -
> > 
> > "Day w/o the Pentagon"
> > (cont’d.)
> > 
> > Chris Ney, Disarmanent Program Coordinator of WRL, reasons, "we cannot
> > afford to dominate the world militarily and starve our needs at home.  The
> > Congress continues to load the
> > Pentagon budget with purchases military leaders don't want and don't need.
> > Meanwhile, medical care, housing, education and  the environment are all in
> > crisis due to lack of attention and funding.
> > 
> > This must change.  Civil disobedience at the Pentagon on October 19th will
> > highlight these themes."
> > 
> > ATTENTION NEWS EDITORS:  For more information (backgrounders, featured
> > participants, etc.) regarding "Day Without the Pentagon" activities between
> > 16-19 October, contact Chris Ney in New York (tel. 212.228.0450; email to
> > wrl@igc.apc.org)
> > Mackie McLeod in Washington D.C. (tel. 202.544.9355; email to
> > mjmcleod1@juno.com)
> > 
> > 
> > END//
> > 
> > **********
> > War Resisters League
> > 339 Lafayette St.
> > New York, NY 10012
>
>
>-
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