U.S. Military Spending

Two striking visual representations of spending on military might. In chart 2, note how low spending was just after the end of WW2 and how little it dropped after the collapse of the Communist Menace. Chart 3 depicts U.S. defense spending in preparation for the impending invasion from outer space - or maybe just to keep the rest of the world in line.

Source for images:
Miriam Pemberton and Lawrence Korb, "A Unified Security Budget for the United States, 2007," Foreign Policy In Focus, May 3, 2006,