Defense spending is down, as a percent of GDP

Conventional Wisdom
Defense spending has exploded and supplemental appropriations are designed to obfuscate the huge increases.

Facts
Defense spending averaged 3.8% of GDP from 2002 to 2007, which is below the averages of the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. 

We're often reminded by the press of the enormous amounts being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. The overall impression can be misleading, though, because congressional votes each year on "supplemental appropriations" bring extra attention to the spending even though much of it would be incurred whether the wars were going on or not. For perspective, there are 2.8 million men and women in the U.S. military today. The number of servicemen in Iraq is approximately 150 thousand. (That's 5% of the total of uniformed personnel.) If these soldiers were not in Iraq, they would be somewhere else. They would be clothed, fed, and using fuel and ammunition in training and preparedness exercises. The total costs involved would be less, but certainly not zero. Thus "war spending" sounds like it is all extra when it's really not.