NRA Lobbying expenditures are a hot topic of political contention, but there’s a more powerful group of lobbyists that politicians rarely mention. The NRA’s $1,690.000 annual outlay is dwarfed by the amount spent by military contractors to influence members of congress. Until this week, I never paid attention to details and ramifications of the military’s budget, though I’ve often heard soundbites about its magnitude. The U.S. spends 10 times more for defense than any other country. We have approximately 800 bases in 80 countries which doesn’t include troops stationed at embassies and missions (Russia has 26-40, The UK, France, and Turkey have 10 each).  There are real concerns we need to address such as terrorism, cyberattacks, media lies, and drugs, but I wonder how effective allocated funds are at keeping us out of harms way and free from manipulation. Newspapers are full of the explosions caused by unsavory individuals.

A few facts and then a few questions:

The military budget for 2019 is $989 billion dollars. It is the second largest item in the federal budget, after Social Security. We spend more on defense than the next nine countries combined. $576 billion goes to the base budget of the Department of Defense (DoD), $ 174 billion goes to DoD in overseas contingency operations to fight the Islamic State Group. The remainder goes to agencies that protect the nation— $93.1 billion to Veterans affairs, $51.7 billion to Homeland Security, $42.8 billion to the State Department, $16.5 billion to the National Nuclear Security Administration, and $26.1 billion for FBI and cybersecurity. 

The base budget pays for day-to-day operations at DoD while Overseas Contingency Operations pays for wars and overseas operations. The overseas contingency is not an official part of the budget and therefore not subject to sequestration. It paid for the War on Terror including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and our involvement in Syria and Yemen.

 Since 2003 when the war in Iraq started, nearly 5,000 U.S. service members died and 32,226 were wounded.  The war George Bush started, caused the death of approximately 405,000 civilians with many more maimed. It is difficult to get an exact count, but it is estimated that 6 in 10 civilian deaths were at the hands of coalition forces due to airstrikes. It is difficult to say what good was accomplished by the war. 

There is significant growth in the use of private military companies to fight wars though their actions are poorly supervised. The United States and The U.K are the only nations not to sign the U.N. Mercenary Convention. We hire private contractors to train armed forces of developing nations, provide armed security for government agencies, administer food services, and logistics, provide insurance, medical service, and intelligence and conduct research into military related technologies. 

Mercenary armies are beholden to shareholders first and to the governments that employ them second.  There are “no standards of conduct” for mercenaries because  the companies they work for are not forced to abide by regulations set by the governments that employ them.  Mercenaries can come from any country. They are usually paid lower salaries than the men and women in our military. The United States complains about manufacturing going to countries willing to pay low salaries, yet I hear little about the way private military contractors take away jobs from US citizens.

Private military contractors do not recognize United Nations Agreements or the Geneva Convention. Their militias cause conflicts all over the globe. Companies like Blackwater (today known as Academi) is well known for committing atrocities and for their involvement in CIA death squads.  Military contractors use black mail to get what they want and conduct shady diamond dealings. They are involved with gold mining, the drug trade, and oil drilling. They abuse civilians and freely act above the law. 

According to the American Conservative, nearly half the Pentagon budget ($304 billion  in 2017) goes to Private Contractors. When the budget comes before congress each year, arguments ignore that fact. They are simply told that more money is needed to support our troops despite the fact the budget increases increases likely go to line the pockets of company executives, useless overhead, cost overruns on weapons systems and military hardware that is not needed and often performs poorly.  The presidents of 5 companies were paid over $96 million dollars last year. Private companies spend excessive amounts on political contributions. In 2017, the defense sector spent $64,564,985 on lobbying according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

My readings about the military, raised many questions. I hope you will respond and provide insight with your answers. 

1. How much of o the money awarded to military contractors is actually used to defend the country as opposed to filling private bank accounts?
2. Is a robust military the best way to create jobs or would money the money we spend on defense create more jobs by fixing and maintaining our infrastructure?
3. Why hire private contractors for food and logistics services rather than use our own recruits?
4. Are private contractors the predators that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about?
5. Does it concern you that countries like Peru,Ethiopia and other third world countries provide many of the mercenaries fighting on our behalf?
6. Are you dismayed that private contractors don’t adhere to the international laws of military engagement agreed to by sovereign nations?
7. Lastly, please let me know what good came out of the wars the US participated in after WWII.

It is time to bring details of the military budget into the political debates. The subject should not be taboo nor should financial obligations be hidden. Imagine what we could accomplish by cutting 15 percent ($45.6 billion) of the military contracts awarded private companies. 

Resources:

National Rifle Assn. OpenSecrets.org .retrieved from https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=d000000082

Slater, A. (2018) The US Has Military Bases in 80 Countries. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/the-us-has-military-bases-in-172-countries-all-of-them-must-close/

Number of U.S.Soldiers killed int eh Iraq War. Statistics. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263798/american-soldiers-killed-in-iraq/

Amadeo,K. (2019) US Military Budget Components, Challenges, and Growth. The Balance. retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320

Private Military Companies. Mercenary Jobs.  retrieved from http://www.mercenaryjobs.org/private-military-companies.html

Poisuo, p (2014) 10 Frightening Facts about Private Military Companies. Listverse. retrieved from https://listverse.com/2014/01/07/11-frightening-facts-about-private-military-companies/

Hartung, W.(2017) Nearly Half the Pentagon Budget goes to The American Conservative . retrieved from  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articleW. 

Mashal, Mujib. (2019) Afghan and U.S. Forces Blamed for Killing More Civilians This Year Than Taliban Have. The New York Times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/asia/afghanistan-civilian-casualties.html

Bump, P. (2008) 15 years after the Iraq War began, the death toll is still murky. Washington Post. retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/03/20/15-years-after-it-began-the-death-toll-from-the-iraq-war-is-still-murky/?utm_term=.c7f9a1071a9f

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