PHA-Exchange> Iraq war boosts global military spending- SIPRI report says that it increased by 11 per cent in 2003 to total $US956 billion dollars.

[UNNIKRISHNAN P.V. (Dr)]

  ABC Online  from AFP

  Iraq war boosts global military spending. 10/06/2004. ABC News Online 

  [This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1128447.htm] 


  Worldwide military expenditure accelerated in 2003, with the war in Iraq accounting for the bulk of the increase, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
  Global military spending, on the rise for five straight years, increased by 11 per cent in 2003 to total $US956 billion dollars.

  The increase followed a hike of 6.5 per cent a year earlier.

  "This is a remarkable increase," SIPRI commented in its annual report. 

  It says prompted by the war on Iraq, the USs military spending saw a "massive increase".

  "The changes in US military doctrine and strategy after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unleashed huge increases in US military spending in 2002 and 2003," SIPRI said. 

  It notes that excluding the additional US spending - directed mostly at Afghanistan, Iraq and "anti-terrorist" activities - worldwide military expenditure would have increased by just 4 per cent rather than 11. 

  The world's rich countries are also the biggest spenders on weapons.

  High-income states accounted for three quarters of the world's military spending but just 16 per cent of its population. 

  To illustrate its point, SIPRI calculated that the combined military spending of these countries was slightly higher than the aggregate foreign debt of low-income countries and 10 times higher than their combined official development aid. 

  There was "a large gap" between what countries were prepared to pay for their security and what they were willing to allocate to alleviating poverty in the world.

  Russia and the United States remained the world's biggest arms suppliers. 

  Their main recipients were China and India in the case of Russia; and Taiwan, Egypt, Britain, Greece, Turkey and Japan in the case of the United States. 

  While continued big spending by Washington would ensure global military expenditure remained high for some time, both the economic burden and ethical considerations would prevent it reaching similar growth rates in the future.

  SIPRI said the US doctrine of pre-emptive wars was being challenged on both ethical and legal grounds, as well as "because of the large costs and dubious successes associated with it. 

  The pace of military spending was likely to fall back over coming years, since it was "doubtful whether current levels will be economically and politically sustainable".

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Dr.Unnikrishnan PV
Fellow: Humanitarian Action
ActionAid - Asia Regional Office, Bangkok, THAILAND
 
Tel:  +66 2 651 9066-9   ; Fax: +66 2 651 9070
E-mail: unni at actionaidasia.org (office) / unnikru at yahoo.com  (personal)
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Website: www.actionaid.org  
 
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