Anti Israel bias via Andrew Sullivan

Look at this anti Israel chart, courtesy of The Economist by way of Andrew Sullivan:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/10/the-most-militarized-people.html

It "proves" that Israel is the "top military spender".

Of course, that's the "top military spender" per person (i.e., over $2300 per year per Israeli). And, there aren't too many Israelis.

But, if you look at the much smaller pie chart in the lower right corner, actual total "defense spending", Israel doesn't even get it's own slice. That's because Israel is in fact not one of the top defense spenders, and is lumped in with "rest of world".

Also, note how Israel is a "military spender", but the actual top spenders are "defense" spenders.

As they say, figures don't lie, but liars figure.

By the way, does anyone think Israel wants to have to spend all that money?