The military consumes oil not only to fuel their jets and Hummers, but to manufacture all the weaponry and supplies (including all the food for half million people).
I think the more appropriate question would be: How much oil and energy is China using to develop their strategic superpower army? By 2012, they will be fully functional in a global, strategic posture. That means nuclear subs, long range ICBMs, and of course a fully functional "assault" navy. Consider the ability to mobilize 200 million men to supplement the 2.3 million-man standing army as of today. Why would they need this force structure and capability? The US Army has a cap of 750,000 active soldiers. The horizon is a bit spooky but for the naive.
China plays a major role in international trade. The country is the world's largest consumer of steel and concrete, using, respectively, a third and over a half of the world's supply of each.China is the biggest consumer of copper in the world. It is also the world's second largest importer of petroleum. Counting all products, China is the third largest importer and the second largest exporter in the world. I don't really think our military is a concern. In fact, I bet the US Post Office is close if not higher in oil/energy consumption.
'Consider the ability to mobilize 200 million men to supplement the 2.3 million-man standing army as of today. Why would they need this force structure and capability?' do not fear the numbers, us is already working on weapons that can 'freeze up' any number of soldiers for few hours to few days and have then recoup in 1-2 weeks. So China can mobilize any number of millions, the weapons of mass control will come really handy. All this without shedding a drop of the red stuff. WMCs way to go!
IMO 50 per cent is too much, but it could easily be true. Besides the war in the Middle East, remember that we have military bases ALL OVER the world. Thousands of troops in S. Korea as well as our Navy. The debt is growing primarily because of our military. Why can't we just defend our borders? We complain about the border with Mexico. End the war, and we can build such a huge wall (not that I think that would be a good idea). But, why must we police the world? 280 million civilians versus the military. The military is getting billions of dollars so it can be realistic. But I think corporate America (though industries that generally use a lot of oil are outsourced overseas now, i.e. car manufacturers) also uses a ton of oil.