Flaws in the war machine

Until September 11, 2001, the US military's budget was about the size of the entire Australian economy. After the terrorists struck, the government quickly increased defence spending, by an amount equal to the New Zealand economy. In the budget that President George Bush is preparing to submit to Congress, he is expected to ask for another increase, this time equivalent to the national economy of Syria.

Altogether, this would put US military spending at roughly $US410 billion ($730 billion) for the fiscal year beginning in October.

So if the Pentagon were a country, it would rank as the world's 14th-biggest economy - a fraction smaller than India and South Korea, but larger than the Netherlands or Russia.
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  thanks to Cursor