Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
The military is the smallest it’s been since WW II which makes sense as the Founders feared a standing army would become a tool to oppress the citizens and there is no threat to the United States that would justify maintaining one.
So why is our military engaged in so many wars around the globe? Aside from Afghanistan, we also have boots on the ground in the Middle East and in Africa. What national security interest are they defending? Why not pull them out, bring them home, stand them down?
Joe Doakes
Dunno. Ask the guy with the Nobel Peace Prize.
The USN secures global trade. That is the extent of my knowledge on this.
Follow @ektrit if you want some unique takes on this stuff.
I’m thinking that the past century of intervention has left us a world where we don’t believe–rightly or wrongly–that we can leave without things going to Hell. I’m afraid, though, that in many cases, this is exactly right–we’ve “sent the Marines” but not a sound theory of government.