Since 9/11, The US Has Spent $21 Trillion On Militarization

NPP Pressroom

KALW Public Radio
Rose Aguilar
09/29/2021

The_Pentagon_DCA_08_2010_9854.jpeg
Camila Ferreira & Mario Duran Ortiz
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Aerial view of the Pentagon, Arlington, VA.

On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing the cost of militarization since 9/11.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has spent more than $21 trillion on militarization, surveillance, and repression, all in the name of security, according to the Institute for Policy Studies’ report, State of Insecurity: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11.

Last Thursday, the US House passed a $768 billion military spending bill on a 316-113 vote. The bill includes $25 billion more than the Biden administration requested.

Guests:

Dr. Stephanie Savell, co-director of the Costs of War project at Brown University and senior researcher at the Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs

Lindsay Koshgarian, program director with the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit that works to make the federal budget accessible to the public

Web Resources: 

Brown University: The Costs of War Project

Institute for Policy Studies: STATE OF INSECURITY: The Cost of Militarization Since 9/11

The Hill, Rebecca Kheel: House passes sweeping defense policy bill

The Washington Post: Corporate boards, consulting, speaking fees: How U.S. generals thrived after Afghanistan

Jacobin, Luke Savage: The War on Terror Militarized America More Than Ever

The New York Times, Spencer Ackerman: The Jan. 6 Riot Proves the Sept. 11 Era Isn't Over

 

Listen here.