Deficit Hawks Are Looking At U.S. War Spending

American troops in Afghanistan, where the United States has spent $120 billion this year alone on military and civilian projects. Christoph Bangert for The New York Times

Sagging Economy Draws Attention to War Spending --New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama will talk about troop numbers in Afghanistan when he makes a prime-time speech from the White House on Wednesday night. But behind his words will be an acute awareness of what $1.3 trillion in spending on two wars in the past decade has meant at home: a ballooning budget deficit and a soaring national debt at a time when the economy is still struggling to get back on its feet.

As Mr. Obama begins trying to untangle the country from its military and civilian promises in Afghanistan, his critics and allies alike are drawing a direct line between what is not being spent to bolster the sagging economy in America to what is being spent in Afghanistan — $120 billion this year alone.

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My Comment: Even if all defense spending was eliminated today (as well as war spending) .... it would still fall short of the $1.5 trillion deficit that the U.S. is going to run this year, and it does not even factor in the long term government liabilities and obligations that runs into the tens of trillions. So yeah .... the politicians will fret about war spending .... and they have every right and reason to do so .... but it ignores the bigger problem of how government "really" spends our money.