Ike was right:
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The U.S. is now spending $12 billion a month in Iraq and Afghanistan. 12 billion dollars every month . [1] 1.5 million people die yearly from (nearly entirely preventable) malarial infection, which Jeffrey Sachs estimates could be nearly eliminated for $3 billion/year. The FAO estimates that the number of severely hungry could be halved with sustained investment of $24bln/yr. These are extreme cases; many entirely worthy activities would cost far less. And yet.. the war continues unabated. Surely if a just god awaits to pass judgment we, who together could stop this madness, will all answer.
[1] These are direct expenditures only and do not include the costs of replacing worn out equipment, paying for medical care and pensions for disabled and killed soldiers, lost productivity, etc.