I know. Defence expenditure is just a quick and dirty estimate, so I don’t have to compare their assets gun by gun and ship by ship. Of course it won’t be 100% accurate, but when you are spending double what both your main opponents are spending, it suggests that there is something wrong.
simply refusing to believe 50% of it disappears to middlemen
More like ‘50% or so is unnecessary expenditure authorised by politicians for their friends in business’.
they also occupy/defend more territory than the next 10
Well that’s the problem, isn’t it? Recent wars have shown that the defender usually has a strong advantage. The US could keep its borders (and any allied countries) safe for a fraction of its current budget. It’s the ‘invading random countries’ part that costs tons of money.