Michigander: You mentioned a lot of things herein I found utterly ridiculous, representative of idealists who've never "been there, done that." However, most of the others have called you on your idealisms, so there's little need to bother repeating their fine, if a bit abrasive posts.
Since you haven't "been there, done that" (painfully obvious to those of us who have)
I'll forgive you, except for your use of the term "murderous" when it comes to describing our troops. For that I invite you to find a scum-filled pond, dunk your head, and inhale. More constructively on this particularly point, I would advise you that all soldiers of reputable countries study, adhere to, and are subject to the
Laws of Armed Conflict. Soldiers who step outside the line are subject to some rather severe punishments, including rotting away in federal prison for the rest of their lives.
As for this nonsense of our military not helping our citizens, those who espouse this view are apparently about 70 years behind on their global economics classes. We don't have the lowest price per gallon of gas, but it's down there. Those countries with lower prices are significant producers of oil themselves. The international petrochemical industry is both strongly connected, and massive, and is the foundation for many other industries.
Don't think our military helps us at home? Over the last 100 years, our military has quelled conflicts ranging from skirmishes to two World Wars. The principle effect has been a cessation of hostilities, followed by a return of area and international commerce, to the benefit of everyone involved, including the U.S. The economic effect at home has been so significant that estimates from world economists put our GDP (gross domestic product) at between 25% and 67% of what it currently is had we continued with the isolationist position we held 100 years ago.
Our overseas involvement, doing the right thing, being wiling to stand up not only for our own international economic interests, but also the human rights of others,
The same stuff society faces here at home, including gangs and gang leaders killing one another are the same stuff society faces overseas, but on a larger scale, and they're called empirial regimes and warlords committing mass genocide.
The responsibilities don't change with size, people, and regardless of size, if we don't the adverse influences in check, they absolutely will run us over.
Anyone who thinks for one nanosecond that our military has done little to nothing to protect our rights and freedoms here at home has yet to think things through.
