[Note: This is the latest National Priorities Project piece on TomDispatch about the true cost of national security. In a piece last year by Chris Hellman, the total cost of national security was calculated in a slightly different manner; it included interest payments on the borrowing that funded past military operations. In the national security numbers described above, such interest payments have been omitted.
For further reading on national security spending see "U.S. Security Spending Since 9/11," an examination of the nearly $8 trillion the United States has spent on defense since the September 11th attacks. Also see "Debt, Deficits, and Defense: A Way Forward" by the Sustainable Defense Task Force.]
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Copyright 2012 Chris Hellman and Mattea Kramer
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