Taliban opens office in Qatar

[B_Jingoist]

Does anyone have information about the portion of the military budget that goes to retirees? I suspect it is eye popping. Money to keep our troops safe and supplied, most people support. I think money for generous retirement plans will be viewed as no longer affordable.

Yes, because there is nothing wrong with taking away the retirement benefits of people who spent 20 or more years defending the nation.

My dad fought in three wars has horrible arthritis and has been diagnosed with Gulf War syndrome, my mother is missing a lung, has plates in her neck, has a knee replacement and no longer has any teeth. All can be attributed to the stresses of military life.

 

[upone]

Yes, because there is nothing wrong with taking away the retirement benefits of people who spent 20 or more years defending the nation.

You are clearly confusing the House Republicans with President Obama.

 

[B_Jingoist]

You are clearly confusing the House Republicans with President Obama.

I really don't care who is doing it.

 

[ConanTheBarber]

All of this from people who have never been to Afghanistan.

As though going makes one an expert, attuned to the One True View.
There are over 300 million Americans who live in the United States, and that fact, as you should know as well as anyone, doesn't give any One True View on what's happening in the U.S.
If you surveyed all the soldiers, journalists, NGO workers, tourists and so on that have been in Afghanistan, you would find a huge range of views about the country.

It is one from one year. It doesn't show a number from say 1994 or 1979 when spending was low.

It also compares raw numbers to other countries. When in fact, when compared as % of GDP, ours isn't too much higher than most other countries, if not less.

It's true that a number of countries spend a larger portion of the GDP on military spending than the U.S.
Saudi Arabia spends 11.2 percent of GDP on defence, for example, compared to the American figure of 4.7 percent.
That said, the American share of global military spending is twice its share of global GDP.