Fascinating Facts about US Military

The United States spends more on its military than rest of the top 15 nations with the highest military expenditure. The rest of the list includes China ($119 bn), UK ($59.6 bn), France ($59.3bn), Russia ($58.7bn), Japan ($54.5bn), Germany ($45.2bn), Saudi Arabia ($45.2bn), India ($41.3bn), Italy ($37bn), Brazil ($33.5bn), South Korea ($27.6bn), Australia ($24bn), Canada ($22.8bn) and Turkey ($17.5bn). The US spends $698 billion. (Figures courtesy Stockholm International Peace Research Institute).

The total known land area occupied by US bases and facilities is 15,654 square miles — bigger than Washington DC, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined. 11 more after the break...

By 2033, the US will be paying $59 billion a year to its veterans injured in the wars.

In 2007, the amount of money labeled 'wasted' or 'lost' in Iraq — $11 billion — could pay 220,000 teachers salaries.

Defence spending is higher today than at any time since the height of World War II.

The yearly cost of stationing one soldier in Iraq could feed 60 American families.

Each day in Afghanistan costs the government more than it did to build the entire Pentagon.

In 2008, the Pentagon spent more money every five seconds in Iraq than the average American earned in a year.

Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US Defence Department still has more than 40 generals, admirals or civilian equivalents based in Europe.

The amount the government has spent compensating radiation victims of nuclear testing ($1.5 billion) could fully educate 13,000 American kids.

The Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety.

The US has 5 per cent of the world's population — but almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure.