From Official Wire:
Singapore’s defence spending will amount to US$11.4bn or 6% of GDP in 2009. As a percentage of GDP, this amounts to one of the biggest defence budgets in recent history.
Singapore has consistently had one of the largest defence budgets in the Asia Pacific region. Given its small population base, Singapore has focused on maintaining its expenditure on sophisticated and superior weaponry. Singapore has consistently spent over 4% of GDP on its defence budget. However, the principal recent development affecting the future of Singapore’s defence spending is the recent rapid deterioration in economic conditions.
Singapore was the first Asian economy to slip into recession in the current global downturn, and will move deeper into recession in 2009.
According to advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Singapore’s GDP registered a dismal seasonally-adjusted annualised contraction of 12.5% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in Q408 (its worst performance since at least 1980), due to a sharp fall in the services sector. On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, GDP contracted by 2.6%, implying that full-year growth for 2008 slowed to just 1.4% from 7.7% in 2007. The manufacturing sector contracted by 9.0% y-o-y in Q408, due largely to falling demand for electronic products in developed markets and a plunge in output for precision engineering.
Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean has announced that defence spending will amount to US$11.4bn or 6% of GDP in 2009. As a percentage of GDP, this amounts to one of the biggest defence budgets in recent history. The Defence Minister stressed the importance of maintaining military spending, noting that threats do not diminish but, rather, often emerge during testing economic times, owing to increased social and political frictions. He noted several factors that had enabled Singapore to build up its defence capability over time: careful spending, sourcing and upgrading second-hand equipment, an ongoing maintenance regime, and investment into research and development.
In February 2009, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) announced that they will participate in a US-led task force in the Gulf of Aden designed to target pirates operating in the Gulf and adjacent waterways.
Singapore will supply a landing ship tank, two helicopters and two-hundred personnel. Joining an international flotilla comprising some forty-five warships from Europe, China and Malaysia, the SAF deployment will help to escort vessels traversing the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and the Gulf.
Singapore Defence and Security Report Q2 2009
Picture from: Singapore’s defence spending ranked 4th worldwide. Why?
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to Triple Threat: “The fact is that, they fear of Singapore taking away their supremacy in the region when we use sheer economical attractiveness to overtake their population size and land area.”
i’m almost speechless, but I shall try…
firstly, what do you mean by singapore using economical attractiveness to “overtake their population size and land area”. err, do you mean we’re planning to invade them or simply we are doing a better job at managing our economy than them despite our land area?
secondly, assuming that our neighbours are indeed “lesser mortals” (quoting Sir Charles Chong) in green-eying us, it doesn’t make sense for them to invade us. given that singapore has nothing but human resources, only 50% non singaporeans and 50% singaporeans would be waiting for them. it should be clear that it’s easier to develop their own economies to overtake us.
Peace!
Tripple Treat #95: “face the reality, thank you.”
Your dream is my nightmare, in the same sense, face who’s reality?
As you have stated “Who is laughing at who, depends on which angle you are looking at.”
By your statement “but we are also laughing at them, for their sheer backwardness.” you are saying SG is not backward which might be even more laughable to them. The Health ministry can’t even disseminate crucial info to the public as someone pointed out. A terrorist can escape so easily while in custody. A foreign worker can die of chicken pox in SG, many of them living in 3rd world condition, and oh the highly disorganised HINI screening procedure etc etc etc.
Once you have stepped out of SG and seen the ‘outside world’ you realise that the dream you once thought was a dream is in fact a nightmare.
So Tripple Treat, you are right that “Who is laughing at who, depends on which angle you are looking at.” Mine happens to be from one who’s seen the outside world and I make no apologies for my personal views.
Tripple Treat, come back here dun run away! you have not answered the various questions from many readers.
what is so good about overseas? backward and high crimes. essentially green with envy for Singapore’s success.
I overheard from a researcher that complain about an Australian researcher
who achieved nothing over the past 8 years yet drawing 20K a month.
Yet, they are burning our research budget.
Wow, 20K a month. Worst, the company increases their salary even though
the company is not making money.
What is happening now???? Strange right, EDB and SM GCT, you are
the one that bring in FT, what had happened.
So GCT, where is our 2010 World Cup Team that you mentioned.
We are all jobless now. I want an answer from you and your
wife, big mouth of the South.
92) mice is nice on July 9th, 2009 9.14 pm
When I say “Good move by the SAF, we should continue to spend on defense like the Israelis”, what I mean is that we still continue to spend big in defense. This doesn’t mean whatever amount is justified.
Again, don’t twist what I have written and mocking others in forums or daily life just diminishes your credibility.
Trust what I wrote and think it simple.
hi Ghim Moh Resident,
////When I say “Good move by the SAF, we should continue to spend on defense like the Israelis”, what I mean is that we still continue to spend big in defense. This doesn’t mean whatever amount is justified.////
the defence budget is spelt out clearly, & you have voiced out your support clearly. i did not put words in your mouth.
if its your opinion the budget is not justified, why even mention,
////“Good move by the SAF, we should continue to spend on defense like the Israelis”////
or you did not know the amount all this time?
if i did mock you please quote the sentence. thanks.
105) high council on July 10th, 2009 11.01 pm
‘what is so good about overseas?’
wow, you make it sound like you travelled the whole world and not only that you are assuming you are intelligent enough to conclude for the rest of singaporeans?
i think you sound more like you dun know and biased or have not been around but just say it like you have. even if you have travelled all over the world, its the mentality that counts. if you are biased, you are.
For me, I would not comment like this until I can justify and substantiate what i say.
“So GCT, where is our 2010 World Cup Team that you mentioned.”
You ask for it, you get it. We will have World Cup in 2010 where Kangaroo Team meet Opposition Team with the referee dressing in kangaroo shirt. With such a powerful kick of kangaroo, the kelong of kangaroo referee and hopping speed of “move on”, the opposition team will surely kena wrack until they cannot stand for erection in election.
98#
I know the govt is opening up the gate for more FT to flood in. Please, I know this reality. But my message in the earlier post to Rafflesian is – these SEA giants are still using their landmass as a token to extend their supremacy in the region. They won’t stand Singapore, a small country, to steal their spotlights. This is a reality.
101)
I am addressing the message of Rafflesian where he said “Dream On” with reference about my post that these SEA giants are using their territorial supremacy to disturb Singapore for stealing away the spotlight once shined on them in the mid-20th century.
Please read my post carefully. Thank you. As for Rafflesian wrote in 89#, I am not addressing that but 88#.
102#
Firstly, yes, I am implying that ” we are doing a better job at managing our economy than them despite our land area.” They got green-eyed.
Secondly, they can’t invade us, look, they can’t even sustain their peace in the long run, sadly, let alone of eating the red dot up. LOL. But this little red dot has a strategic location to attract trading activities from all over the world. If those Malaysian politicians were smart, they could have set Singapore as the capital before kicking us out. Yes, they can develop their economies much faster due to larger landmass and population but when are they going to do so? 50 years? 100 years? or never?
103)
Is it because you can’t accept this reality, so it becomes a nightmare to you, so is it me? Again, it depends on which angle you are looking from.
SG is definitely not backward when we compare our economy with them. Economical comparison between countries is measured in terms of GDP, HDI, and perhaps you can factor which country has more infrastructures, conducive environment for economic activities, etc. MSK’s prison break? Health Minister’s broken promise? Nope, I am not interested in these unrelated factors.
But I do admit that some employers are cruel to the workers as in giving them third world facilities. Some disease screening procedures are not appropriate like the case of RP. But does that mean our SEA neighbours did better than us?
Seen outside world as in seeing those really developed worlds. If you have been to worlds like the least developed countries, you will think differently. But the question is, how many of us, including you, would take this initiative to tour these least developed countries? Many of us will simply say, “eeee… dirty environment, enough of it, I want to go France and visit the Paris Tower!”
I make no personal apologies either. Thank you.
As the message is already very clear for peer-sharing on “Singapore’s economy and SEA countries”, which the fact that Singapore’s economy is more advanced than our SEA neighbours is undisputable. I shall not reply anymore and shall rest my case. :)
This is it, use “Economy” to pull weight even when “Economy” means citizens lose out or have poorer quality life. It seems more and more like GDP is just a number, good to show on paper but does not mean anything (not sure how the per capita GDP would fare). It is exactly like boasting education ranking (through students’ A’ results) but got to import talents. Look at our top talented scholars, they can’t even have independent thinking like a proper academic!
sigh…. Singapore spend alot of money on defence, people complain it’s too much… Singapore don’t spend too much on defence, people say don’t know what the government spend on, our army is a joke, war comes then how, etc. Isn’t too much and too little ultra subjective issues? Why the ultra affirmative “TOO MUCH!!”
For your information, much of what we spend on are offensive equipment, not for internal threats. We spend on F-15s, Apaches, Leopard tanks, Gulfstream AWACS craft, submarines, and frigates… These equipment are primarily meant for a rapid strike into the heart of an aggressor nation, disabling him and keeping the fight from reaching our shores. Who the hell will be able to use such equipment against a riot if there was a regime change?
At any rate, I feel that a strong defence is necessary. and in general, what we spend on are considered fairly modest, considering the other options out there. We got the F15s instead of the EF Typhoon or Rafale, both of which are multiple times more expensive. We got our apaches and leopard tanks only when a credible threat developed in one of our neighbors (i.e. new T-61 tanks). So shall we say our government is stupid to buy old stuff? Or too extravagant, didn’t buy some old MIGs? Isn’t it more of a matter of opinion rather than hard facts?
It is precisely because of this, and because i think military decisions are, to a great degree, technical driven rather than politically driven, that I generally am supportive of our decisions to buy things. The new stuff are good stuff. Too good or not good enough, i leave it to the brass to decide.
as for accountability, i think it is necessary in every quarter, but from the little i have seen, the SAF seems to be doing its best to ensure proper accountability at the low to mid levels. if such accountability, bordering on the overly-penny-picking, is replicated at mid to higher levels, the system will be nearly perfect.
I have a question ( i raising my hand).
Given all the well regarded creme dela creme talents it has, how can singapore’s economy grow marvelously without the usa economy also growing? So, what drives singapore’s growth? What does it depend/rely on?
Any wise guys like to take a shot and give a credible answer?
i think this is a joke to singaporeans, westerners, indians, chinese, malaysians but mm lee insisted on it. Sg even though how much we spent can beat any other country in the world if there is a world. It will just be a prick in finger to them. We are so small. We should just pray that people not attack us but not waste money of defence. A bomb and everything is gone.
This country is buying arms from the evil American defense industries, supporting them to further develop more weapons of mass destruction. Instead of spending more money to promote peace, they splurge on weapons to promote war.
@110) Daniel on July 11th, 2009 10.30 am
Bit off the subject, but no worry mate. Six months before 2010, a first division MP with passion for soccer will become president of the FAS. Then U see SGP will be a World Cup contentant, maybe even get chance for runner-up (aka silver). Of course they will get a coach who knows how to read balls very well. Now we quiet-quiet, part of strategy to spring a surprise upset win over likes of Brazil, Italy, Germany, Bukit Kaki (division 3) secondary school, etc…
spend so much on jets and ships but NO MONEY FOR BLARDY COMPUTERS. ever saw a queue of clerks queing to use computer in camp?
120) score point on July 11th, 2009 10.46 pm
Going forward, it will be China and India.
On Weapons or Salaries?
125) Ghim Moh resident on July 12th, 2009 9.57 pm
’120) score point on July 11th, 2009 10.46 pm
Going forward, it will be China and India.’
Oh , is that so? Wow, you sound like you know leh.
So, if China and India tak boleh, with creme dela creme also can growth as strong as before when USA invested in singapore right?
Why need China and India?
Can’t we create our own growth?
Why reliant? I think our talents alone enough liao lah. No meh?
question only. Dun flame me or get wrong idea.
Peace.
15) Sylvester Lim
//// Actually, LKY is not our founding father, I believe it was Sir Stamford Raffles. ///
Neither of them are, I think.
** Sylvester Lim – I suggest you read the Malayan History about SIr STamford Raffles-
Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore from the eyes of the angmo.
The inhabitants were here long before this angomo and his merrymen came and made the inhabitants on this sunny island his kar kia and the Queen’s subject, exploited the people and resources for the Queen’s pleasure.
– Kopi Thiam – SAme sentiment – I agree with you
My thoughts is that Raflles was never a founder of SIngapore.
Singapore became an entrpot – ever wonder why.
Ever wonder why the British set up an infra structure from Malaysia down to SIngapore to ship all the resources taken for free from Malaysia and SIngapore and sent it to London. Please read the Malayan History. Alot of our children do not know about history. See the British strategies of divide, atack and rule attack ???? sounds familiar
Is he the founder of SIngapore. ????????????? What say you now Sylvester.
so much money spent on technology, but when push comes to shove countries just have to make our sea lanes & airspace a hostile place & we will starve without food imports.
like that can fight how long? or will some be left to starve while food is distributed to a select few?
128) Daisy
Let’s say, a regular guy who happen to be a bit sua koo, somehow never ever went to Ang Mo Kio before in his entire life, and one day went there for the first time. any of us like him would say ” Wah, got this place call AngMo Kio, wah now I know”
The colonial Angmo did it diiferently. He and his countrymen, cooped in his freezing English island for centuries, one day decides to set sail and every place he and his thuggish accomplices land, they went proclaimig he founded the land, regardless if there were people living there before even England existed.
In the recent decades it gets a bit more difficult for them to do this. So they now do it differently. They bomb to smitherins the countries they want to “colonise”, and create boogeyman, like the Domino Theory for Vietnam, WMD and terrorism for middle east, to justify their actions. And incite civilians to demostrate, for human rights, for democracy, to overthrow gahmens, and then they will support the new regimes as long as it deems useful, and if the expry date ran out, street demos again, overthrow gahmen and the cycle goes on.
Yes. All this is truly for democracy, really, but democracy for the western “colonisers”, not for the people brainwashed to aping the western style demos. These western “colonisers” want as many countries on this planet to be in this perpectual state, demostrate for human rights, for democracy, to overthrow gahmens,
World domination by letting people in the other countries self destruct themselves. And I recall someone in TOC event talk about creative destruction, that idea fit the bill,
Certainly we need to spend the money to maintain the SAF in a modern fighting force. Big $$$ for the regular officers too…especially the senior officers. Certainly, they are well paid and having a good life during the economic crisis. I have seen some senior SAF officers in their uniform enjoying glasses of beer after working hours while their other hands on the jackpot machine.
need to show off our tech toys during Exercise NorthStar. VIPs very impressed, like Hollywood blockbuster movie.
thumbs up for the show!! :)
Movie is a movie…but terrorists are real. This morning, a pair of powerful bombs rip into 2 hotels in Jakarta.
“Movie is a movie…but terrorists are real. This morning, a pair of powerful bombs rip into 2 hotels in Jakarta.”
Those terrorists in Jakarta are nothing compared to ours. “Ours” just standing outside Istana protesting can rip the whole place apart. So powerful is ours that the Public Order Act has to be invoked.
hi Elijah,
there have been real & serious loopholes in our Home Team. tech toys can only do so much when there are deeper system flaws.
MSK, & an attempted escape at Sub Court? also, the NorthStar exercise is modelled after Mumbai attacks, that already is a clue how pre-planned that exercise is.
hi..mice is nice,
We just cant be too complacent and just model after a certain type of attack. The enemy is always in the dark and our ground officers have to be more vigilant and alert.
hi Elijah,
////We just cant be too complacent and just model after a certain type of attack. The enemy is always in the dark and our ground officers have to be more vigilant and alert.////
don’t tell me about modelling the exercise after a certain type of attack. who am i to do any changes? as for being more vigilant, its just a word to give an impression that any situation that arises is under control.
what does being vigilant really mean? since security threat is ever evolving? can being vigilant prevent attacks?
back to the topic, how does spending so much on defence (assuming not just tech toys) prevent any attacks, be it from a rogue state or non state “actors”? the law of diminishing returns?
if you know the five pillars of total defence, military defnce is the last pillar. what does it hint? obviously our economic defence is weak pillar that deserves more funding, does it?
Is there really a need to defend ourselves??
I mean 1/3 of the population is already foreigners. More are coming. We are basically taken over by foreign powers already….Malaysians, Chinese, Indians….
==================
Remember the National Day Song?
We are Singapore, we are Singapore
We will stand together, hear the lion roar
We are Singapore, we are Singapore
We’re a nation strong and free forevermore
==================
Well, it should be:
“We are Sing-A-Pore (Malaysia, China, India…..)”
“We are Sing-A-Pore (Malaysia, China, India…..)”
We must stand together, there is no space anymore
“We are Sing-A-Pore (Malaysia, China, India…..)”
“We are Sing-A-Pore (Malaysia, China, India…..)”
We’re MANY MANY nations strong and free before speech
==================
The other day, I asked my nephew who is the president of Singapore.
I said he has dark skin and his photos are everywhere.
He pondered for 5 seconds and answered…..”Mas Selamat”
This is what Singapore has come to be……sad….very sad….
====================
The Good thing is, no matter which country which may invade us, there will be someone in Singapore to shout “Ka Kee Lang!!” Maybe we can be spared that way. OR… 1/3 of the population run back to their native countries, while the local people rush to pick-up cheap flats they can finally afford instead of fighting the invaders…..
138) Bitter Singaporean
/////I mean 1/3 of the population is already foreigners////
1/3 already?
/////The other day, I asked my nephew who is the president of Singapore.
I said he has dark skin and his photos are everywhere.
He pondered for 5 seconds and answered…..”Mas Selamat”
This is what Singapore has come to be……sad….very sad….//////
Sad for your nephew, many kids knows the diff between the 2.
137) mice is nice
never rule out suprise attacks, it happened so many times liao…..
Megatron waiting since 1850 in the Arctic Ocean to surprise attack us.
and also
the delerick spacship stored in Area 51 to surprise attack us.
and also
No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, like arguing in TOC, *they* observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cruel and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us.
Yeah…it is quite sad. But I can’t blame him, I don’t even care to know who my MP is nowadays…I am not really interested in who is which minister….who cares whats happens in the government when you can’t change anything anyway.
People say that Singaporeans just like to complain. What do you want us to do? Sign a petition with our REAL NAMES? Protest in the streets?
My nephew’s generation will no doubt suffer the brunt the most. He faces competition in school, and I am not even sure if he can find work in SG in the future. His parents are trying to scrimp and save as they know it is a very real possibility. In SG, the government does not feed you when your job has been taken by a foreigner. They import more foreigners.
I read this on another forum:
======================
Since Singapore favors foreigners over me, then the foreigners can be the ones to protect Singapore. Afterall, I am not important to my country, I am not foreign talent. Good luck and bye!
Since Singapore favors foreigners over me, then the foreigners can be the ones to win sports medals for Singapore. Afterall, I am not important to my country, I am not foreign talent. I am sure Singapore can win the World Cup or the Olympics once they buy over Ronaldo or Phelps to the Singapore team.
Since Singapore favors foreigners over me, then the foreigners can be the ones to propagate for the next generation (assuming they do not get better opportunities in the US). LKY is worried that we would be the last of the Mohigans, so he says we need to import foreigners. But job-deprived, house deprived locals dare not procreate. PAP is killing my family line. I am afraid I will be the last of the true Singaporean……maybe the PAP will allocate reservations for us to live in the future like the Native American Indians.
Want to smoke a pipe by the totem pole with me brother? We can talk about the good old days when our country was ours.
======================
hi KopitiamApek,
////No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns////
concerns like the clinging onto power? petty politics?
////With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world.////
well, S’pore lost an EMPIRE’S WORTH OF WEALTH in the latest financial hoo-haa…
////Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cruel and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us.////
who are the intellects who are “cruel & unsympathetic” har? yeah, some plans are well under way against a segment of “us”, dunno where you stand lah, but i do. ;)
142) mice is nice
these word written by H G Wells so long ago still hold relevance to this day : )
What we must not do is to create an arm race with our neigbours. No body win then. Getting the right balance is no easy solution.Maintaining good relation with our neigbours should take precedence and increase cooperation in economic and security matter will enhance understanding and reduce the need to constantly upgrade the military hardware. These hardware have a shelf life and cost of maintenence and spares will cost more then the original purchase price. Our ministers should work hard toward better diplomatic relationship with both our neigbours to reduce the need to expand the armed forces. After all we are all part of Asean. Peace is what we need to maintain the current prosperity and economic growth. I must admit our diplomatic relationship with both our neigbours are good, just hope it stay that way for many years to come.
If I am not wrong ex. George Bush had approved some 140billions on US military budget just months before he lost out his presidency to Obama and now he bought and owns one of the biggest land space somwhere in paraguay . . . . .hmmmm . . . . . . .something is really very wrong somewhere along the line . . . . . .
Not only does Singapore have one of the highest defence budgets per capita in the world , it is also a big arms manufacturer . And to make things worse manufactures cluster bombs and the like , and has not signed the international agreements on non production of cluster bombs . The government deliberately totally ignores all the hardship and pain done to the civil populations with cluster bombs , especially in Asia.
If I were Singaporean ( I only live here) I would be ashamed of their country and government . On one side they send aid to help countries and on the other sell arms and bombs which kill populations , I know which side is more lucrative , and your ministers make it very clear in speeches , they are only worried about GDP , a pityfull state of affairs for a country like SIngapore .
Singapore is a small insignificant country with insignificant armed forces with NO experience , there is no need for Singapore to copy Israel and become the beligerant country of the region .
Don’t worry , with all these foreigners ( who often don’t take Singapore nationality) coming into the country to give the government its labour force , you may find that you Singaporeans become a minority in your own country . What happens then , will be an interresting time for the government which no longer represents the majority of the population , maybe a first world wide . Interresting developments in International diploma , how do you treat a government like that on the world scene.
I will sit on the fence and watch
From the charts I surmise based on per capita We spend even more than Israel on Defence?
Just reduce Defence by 20 percent and Singaporeans can have better schools, better parks, better medical care; better housing.
Why are the Politicians so HAWKISH?
Who are we afraid off?
Indonesia? Malaysia? Burma? Thailand? Philippines? Vietnam? Cambodia? Laos? Sri Lanka? India? China?
If none of the above why are We spending precious Money on unproductive Military hardware?
Why are We following US? Fighting wars where Trillions of Dollars that can be used for the Medical Service, Shools, Roads, Housing, Public Transportation going to waste
If the defence spending are used to improve Singapore’s defence, then the money is worth in. However, the problem is that the high defence spending is becos the SAF regulars are being paid too high! Hence, government should cut the pay of the SAF regulars to cut defence spending. Ultimately, the defence of Singapore depends on NSFs and NSmen, who are not paid to defend Singapore!
@george
its not an arms race, its a natural act of balance. small country needs to balance against big country with bigger stick, if big country got big stick and small country little stick, then the small country gets owned.
by having a big armed forces (within affordable limits), singapore enhances local security and peace by deterring possible acts of aggression (not neccessary acts of war, as mahatir says there are more then one way to skin a cat).
big country do not have to go to war against small country to make then bow before them, but small country need big and strong military to just stand up to big bullies.
@bobby tan;
what you cannot defend, is not yours.
in fact, without a strong military we will end up paying for our bullies better schools, better parks, better medical care; better housing.
@NSmen.
as NSmen, i get my full civilian pay, actually less abit cos SAF dont give me OT pay.
i work in civilian 8 to 5,but a regular has to work 24/7. think of their higher pay as risk pay or OT pay.
Conversely it is apparent with a strong military which sucks up 11.5billion $ of valuable public funds….We automatically get much much less for Medical Care, Education, and Welfare not to mention beign the highest taxed country in Asea via all the so called indirect taxation, like COE, ERP, Market subsidy housing, petrol duties, cigarettes duty, acohol duties, GST…highes cost of Electricity in Asea, Highest cost of public transsport in ASEAN, highest taxi fares in ASEAN…
2 years of young mens’ life burnt.
We just need a small strong professional arm force and a very short NS. stint.
We are burning $11.5billion every year…just because We have HAWKS in the Government