Spending Our Future

Thanks for your column in the June issue about the military budget (“A Theft from Those Who Hunger,” by Frida Berrigan). I am the director of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia and deal firsthand with the opportunity costs of militarism, both in the reductions of vital social programs and the backdoor draft of the economically disadvantaged who have no other choice but to join the armed services.

I believe Chalmers Johnson represents a reputable source from academia, and after a caveat about the complexities of military spending, he concluded a conservative figure for fiscal year 2008 military spending would be $1.1 trillion!

John S. Rausch

Stanton, Kentucky