Where Does the Firewood Come From

Where Does the Firewood Come From
I listen to the news hoping the war in Ukraine will end, that sanctions and restrictions will be lifted. My sister, near Kyiv, writes: they bomb every day — drones at night, ballistic missiles during the day.
“We conduct negotiations with bombs, our planes fly over Tehran, we will bomb as long as necessary,”;says U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth today.
Charles Freeman, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, speaking on Glenn Diesen’s YouTube channel, quotes a senior Singaporean official:;“The United States has moved from maintaining world order to becoming a global destabilizer,” and now has turned into something like a landlord demanding payment.

1/ U.S. military presence
The U.S. has “800 bases in 80 countries,” but it’s important to clarify:;this includes not only large bases, but also:
warehouses
logistics hubs
temporary facilities

2/ Spending
According to open U.S. budget data:
total military budget: ~$800–900 billion per year
of that, overseas presence (bases, operations, logistics): about $150–200 billion annually
This is not a separate line item, but a combination of:
maintaining troops abroad
logistics
infrastructure
operations

3/ Who pays for the bases
Partly, the U.S. pays itself:
construction
military salaries
equipment
Host countries also contribute. This is called host nation support.
Examples:
Japan: about $2–3 billion per year
South Korea: ~$1–1.5 billion
Germany: covers part of infrastructure
Italy:;estimated tens to hundreds of millions annually;often covers part of operating costs (~10–20%);(no single exact figure — different agreements)
United Kingdom:;no major direct payments;contributions come through joint programs and infrastructure
Qatar, Bahrain, UAE (Middle East):;host countries often cover bases, logistics, infrastructure;amounts are usually not publicly broken out
“Political payment” can also include:
land
tax breaks
infrastructure access
in exchange for:
military protection
alliance with the U.S.
“Being an enemy of America can be dangerous, but being a friend is fatal.” — Henry Kissinger
This does not look like countries paying for occupation or control,;but rather:
shared financing of military presence
cost-sharing among allies
strategic agreements
And the money goes not as “profit” to the U.S. budget,;but to specific costs: personnel, infrastructure, logistics.

4/ Cost of wars (very rough)
The numbers are enormous:
Vietnam: ~$700 billion (in today’s dollars)
Iraq: ~$2–3 trillion
Afghanistan: ~$2–2.5 trillion
“War on Terror” overall: ~$6–8 trillion (e.g., Brown University estimates)
Other conflicts:
Yugoslavia: tens of billions
Libya: several billions
Syria: tens of billions
Yemen (indirectly): billions
For a state, wars and military spending create debt — they cost trillions.

5/ Who profits
The military-industrial complex benefits.
Companies like:
Lockheed Martin
Raytheon (RTX)
receive:
contracts worth hundreds of billions
increased orders
The U.S. is also the world’s largest arms exporter — tens of billions annually.
Top defense companies:
Lockheed Martin — largest contractor, maker of F-35, missile systems
RTX Corporation — missiles, air defense, electronics
Northrop Grumman — drones, bombers, nuclear systems
General Dynamics — Abrams tanks, submarines
Boeing — military aircraft and helicopters
From 2020 to 2024:;$2.4 trillion went from the Pentagon to private contractors;$771 billion went to the largest companies
Top executives earn $15–20+ million per year.

Conclusion
For a state, wars are economically inefficient.;They increase national debt and divert resources from social needs.
This means:
weaker schools
limited access to healthcare
underfunded social programs
The U.S. national debt has reached a record ~$37 trillion.

Final thought
I believe it is madness that such enormous resources are spent on war and military expansion. It solves nothing, brings no real progress, and only creates tragedy and a constant atmosphere of fear and tension.
Those same resources could be directed toward space exploration, science, education, and social programs — things that actually improve people’s lives and move humanity forward.