Acording to a group of U.N.-appointed military experts, global military spending is threatening to break the one trillion dollar barrier this year. The 16-member group estimates that military spending will rise to nearly 950 billion dollars by the end of 2004, up from 900 billion dollars in 2003. By contrast, rich nations spend 50-60 billion dollars on development aid each year. The 2004 estimates would be ''substantially higher if the costs of the major armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq were included'', the experts say in a 30-page report released here. The U.S. Congress has authorised spending of about 25 billion dollars for Afghanistan and Iraq in 2004, but that is expected to more than double by the end of the year. U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the Senate in May that war spending in Afghanistan and Iraq was approaching about five billion dollars a month. He predicted that total costs for 2005 would be 50-60 billion dollars. ''At a time when global poverty eradication and development goals are not being met due to a shortfall of necessary funds, rising global military expenditure is a disturbing trend,'' warns the U.N. study. [more
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