Pillory: Out of Order

A report issued yesterday by SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) surveyed global military spending. According to Peter Starck in a Reuters article today,

World military spending rose for a sixth year running in 2004, growing by 5 percent to $1.04 trillion on the back of "massive" U.S. budgetary allocations for its war on terror

. The most interesting fact, however, came unobtrusively, near the end of the article where, after describing all the increases in military spending as percentage of GDP, Starck pointed out that

Growth in China's military spending slowed to 7 percent -- to $35 billion -- from on average 11.5 percent per year in the past decade. Russia's 2004 national defense budget increased almost five percent to $19 billion, SIPRI said.

Well, Rumsfeld is probably saying, that's because China's GDP grew by 10 percent. Of course military spending as a percentage of GDP would fall, even though their actual spending has increased.

Fine, Don. But remember, you had to duck to avoid getting pies thown in your face when you went to the Shangri-La IISS conference last week because your remarks about US abuse of detainees were so offensive to the public. Your assertions about China threatening the balance of power in the East by increasing military spending when no enemy was apparent are setting you up for a lo mein baptism in Singapore, too.

In fact, yesterday, a China View article today says,

China on Tuesday refuted US defense secretary's remark on its increased military expenditure, saying the words are groundless.

"The remarks that China's military expenditure has grown to be the largest in Asia and the third largest of the world is rootless," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a regular press conference.

In whichever hemisphere he steps up to the microphone, Secretary Rumsfeld is undercutting US credibility and amity.

OK, so, even though he really deserves it, it's unlawful to throw pies in the face of the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, especially during wartime, which we apparently are because they keep saying so: "The War on Terror," "The War for Democracy," "The War Against WMD," "The War on Peace," whatever it is supposed to be ... so we can't actually hit him in the face with a pie.

Therefore, the media are responsible for pilloring this guy and making a humiliated laughing stock out of his windbag bullshit. But they're not doing it. You know America is in a recession when the people stop complaining about their government. Things have really stopped working around here.