while other countries are investing 400 billion into defense...

[takao]

... others, like here Austria are selling 37% of their military camps, training grounds etc. for financing a reform of the Military which goal actually is reducing troops and costs
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2070855
(link in german)

1 billion of euro i , wonder how much of that money is gonna simply get wasted for stuff like blackhawks who are too big and heavy to get used for avalanche rescue operations and mainly get used as minister air-taxis

well at least after 85 years of being land locked (if you don't count the danube) the austrian military finally sold their navy academy building (planned for 2007 actually)

i'm surprised they actually don't plan to reintroduce a cavalry ... oh wait ... they still _have_ a horse unit (for transportation ... not fighting ;) )


that aside they already have problems finding 100 volunteers for an additional afghanistan mission ... well at least there they could pick up weapons for cheap ;)

[mactastic]

Link'd (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8129877/)
For the first time since the Cold War, global military spending exceeded $1 trillion in 2004, nearly half of it by the United States, a prominent European think tank said Tuesday.

As military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror continue, the world spent $1.035 trillion on defense costs during the year, corresponding to 2.6 percent of the planet's gross domestic product, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.

The figure "is only 6 percent lower in real terms than it was in (1987-1988), which was the peak," said SIPRI researcher Elisabeth Skons, who co-authored the organization's annual report.

Worldwide military spending rose by 6 percent, matching the average annual increase since 2002, the institute said.

The United States accounted for 47 percent of all military expenditure, while Britain and France each made up 5 percent of the total.

It's a good thing freedom is on the march. Imagine what we'd have to spend if it wasn't.

[skunk]

It's a good thing freedom is on the march. Imagine what we'd have to spend if it wasn't.Money well spent, I say: I feel so much safer.

[miloblithe]

Wow. Austria has the lowest defense spending (as a percentage of GDP) of any European country except Ireland and Malta.

[Ugg]

... others, like here Austria are selling 37% of their military camps, training grounds etc. for financing a reform of the Military which goal actually is reducing troops and costs
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2070855
(link in german)

1 billion of euro i , wonder how much of that money is gonna simply get wasted for stuff like blackhawks who are too big and heavy to get used for avalanche rescue operations and mainly get used as minister air-taxis

well at least after 85 years of being land locked (if you don't count the danube) the austrian military finally sold their navy academy building (planned for 2007 actually)

i'm surprised they actually don't plan to reintroduce a cavalry ... oh wait ... they still _have_ a horse unit (for transportation ... not fighting ;) )


that aside they already have problems finding 100 volunteers for an additional afghanistan mission ... well at least there they could pick up weapons for cheap ;)

Who needs a standing cavalry, just saddle up some of those Lipizanners and HI, HO, Silver!!!

I think this goes to show that waste in the military is endemic everywhere, not just the US. Of course it also seems controversial, with some whining about jobs lost but politicians will do anything for attention I guess.


It's funny how bushco is pushing for more a more businesslike government but somehow, with government being the consumer of most military equipment, military spending knows no boundaries.

[takao]

I think this goes to show that waste in the military is endemic everywhere, not just the US. Of course it also seems controversial, with some whining about jobs lost but politicians will do anything for attention I guess.

hehe the best thing is that they were closing camps etc. already when i was in the army 3 years ago..

the amounts of food which gets thorwn away because somebody made a mistake, is stunning..i remember the converstio nexactly:
me (jumping out of the truck): you've got the lunch ready?
guy from kitchen: yeah all 182 portions are ready to get filled in..
me(puzzled): 182 ? you mean 82, right ?
kitchen-guy: no, 182 like your boss said on the telephone...
me(getting angry): he said 82 i was sitting in the same bureau god-damit
kitchen-guy: ohh, ... well as long as you don't come back with the nearly full containers.. we made steaks so we'll get in trouble if we made too much
me: at least we have enough this time not as last week

...

20 minutes later
my staff seargent: you got everything ?
me: yeah all the 182 portions
boss(puzzled): what do you mean ith 182 ? i ordered 82 !
me: they understood 182 on the telephone
boss: oh god not again... what did they make ?
me: steaks or something like that...
boss: damn we can't bring it back.. ok we give everyone a normol portion and then ask who wants more and for the rest...hey driver do you've gotextra shovels in the back of the ordonance jeep
driver(haven't listened): yeah the 2 standard of course
boss (to me): ok for everything left you and the driver take the shovels and gonna dig out a hole over there...

:rolleyes:

[mactastic]

Austria doesn't hire any Halliburton subsidiaries to provide supplies for it's troops, do they? ;)

[takao]

Austria doesn't hire any Halliburton subsidiaries to provide supplies for it's troops, do they? ;)

they don't need to ! they are unefficient by definition or/and tradition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Karansebes)

god in our camp there were still tanks/artillery guns which were left by the allied forces in 1955 used as decoration because it would have been more expensive to to completely scrap those tanks etc.

heck some of the furniture like metal beds, tables and some chairs have dates inprinted from 1945 and before ... :rolleyes:

i'm surprised they don't reuse the WW2 bombs/artillery/FLAK - shells/handgrenades which get found regulary

[Xtremehkr]

Not only that, but the Pentagon operates without financial oversight. Ironically, it never has enough money, or go to war without extra money.

But welfare is bad and education is too expensive, while healthcare is just out of the question. Yup, we've got our priorities straight.