US spends more on military than all major nations combined: Analyst
The US military is facing a firm challenge from armed forces of China and Russia as threatening the super power status of the United States, says a writer and investigative journalist in Indonesia.
There will be an ongoing arms race between countries “because of the aggression of the United States primarily,” said Joachim Hagopian, a columnist at Veterans Today and a former US Army officer.
“Its catch up time for Russia and China so now they’re catching up,” Hagopian told Press TV on Wednesday.
Until about a decade ago, US military expenditures were equal to the military spending of all the countries in the world combined, Hagopian noted.
The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars on its armed forces per year, even with the recent budget cutbacks.
The $614 billion spent by the US in 2014 was more than the next 7 countries combined, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Total military spending by China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, the United Kingdom, India and Germany was $601 billion last year, SIPRI figures show.
Despite this, US officials often warn of strides by China and Russia in developing defenses against American weapons and closing the gap in capability.
On Monday, US Air Force General Frank Gorenc expressed concern over "alarming" moves by the Russian military to beef up its air forces and to establish firm defenses around areas like Crimea.
"The advantage that we had from the air, I can honestly say, is shrinking," Gorenc said at the annual Air Force Association conference.
"This is not just a Pacific problem; it is as significant in Europe as it is anywhere else on the planet,” he said. "I don't think it's controversial to say they've closed the gap in capability."
Hagopian described the US Department of Defense as the “department of war” because it is “very offensive in nature."
"They make war around the world, so why call it defense when it really doesn’t even defend the American people, it only puts them in more grave harm,” he said.
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