ADDICTED TO WAR -- WHY THE U.S. CAN'T KICK MILITARISM

In the post-Cold War world order, the U.S. does not seem to want to be bound by any arms treaties. It refuses to sign a new protocol to the 1972 biological weapons treaty because it would require international inspections of its biological weapons research facilities, where it is creating deadly new strains including highly lethal powdered anthrax. U.S. officials say they are only creating germ weapons in order to study how to defend against them.

Of course, we would never use them ourselves! [90]

But can other countries trust a government that bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and actually developed plans to use smallpox and other biological weapons against Vietnam and Cuba?

Would you? [91]

And U.S. "weaponized germs" not only represent a threat to people in other countries.

What if some of the Pentagon's powdered anthrax got into the hands of some fanatic here in the United States?

During the Cold War the U.S. had a serious military competitor in the Soviet Union. Today the U.S. maintains a huge war machine despite the lack of any serious competition. The U.S. military budget is now larger than the next 25 biggest spenders put together! It makes up a full 36% of total global military spending.

United States $396 billion.

Annual Military Expenditures. The world's four biggest spenders: Russia $60 billion; China $42 billion; Japan $40 billion.

Being the world cop and all, we do have certain responsibilities! [92]

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