American taxpayers provide hundreds of billions of dollars each year to fund the U.S. military and the wars it fights – more than nearly all other countries in the world combined. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq sent the defense spending skyrocketing at an astonishing rate in the past decade, and although concerns about the federal deficit have put a small dent in the military's budget, little political will exists to keep cutting military spending.
Taxpayers generally have very little idea where much of that money goes. A close look at U.S. military spending shows that a lot goes to things that would surprise many taxpayers.
Just about everybody is aware of the debate of the value of spending billions to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but many don't know that local graft and corruption suck up a lot of those dollars. Defense companies and lobbyists, too, profit millions from U.S. military spending.
About today's Infographic:
This infographic was provided by: Online Military Education