What Would it Cost to Make Peace?‏

GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST MILITARY SPENDING Dear Friends, Last year, the world spent a staggering $4.76 billion dollars every day on war and preparations for war.   According to a new report released today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditures grew to a record $1,738 billion in 2011. That figure represents a deeply troubling increase of over $138 billion in new military spending over the previous year. Predictably, the United States was again responsible for the lion's share of global military spending. In 2011, the United States earmarked a total of $711 billion for military expenditures, accounting for more than all other US discretionary spending combined.  The figures stand in sharp contrast to spending on efforts to create a more peaceful and healthy planet.   "Almost every country with a military is on an insane path, spending more and more on missiles, aircraft, and guns, while the planet is in crisis," said John Feffer, Co-Director of Foreign Policy In Focus, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies. "These countries should be confronting the real threats of climate change, hunger, disease, and oppression, not wasting taxpayers' money on their military." Some 1.7 billion people live on the edge of subsistence without the basic necessities of life.  A mere two tenths of world military spending is all that is needed to achieve the UN Millennium Goals, including ending poverty and ensuring that everyone has access to clean water, food, clothing, shelter, health-care and education. Today, on this Global Day of Action Against Military Spending, IPPNW joins hundreds of other groups, and millions of people around the globe, in calling for a re-ordering of priorities away from armament and war.  It is time instead to focus attention and resources on unmet human needs and fostering sustainable peace. What would you do with $1,738,000,000,000 dollars?  Click here to consider the possibilities. Sincerely, Michel Christ Executive Director P.S. Your support makes our work possible.  Please donate now to make a world of difference.