Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. We complain about the cost of the wars but in reality they are only about 20% of our military spending. We complain that our military spending is higher than the rest of the world combined. Very true.
We maintain military presence throughout the world and act as the protector for entire free world. That is where we get ourselves into deep shit. I believe we should have the strongest military in the world. It provides a level of security that we can’t get any other way. I’m just not sure it needs to be so far flung. If S.Korea needs protection (it does) then S.Korea needs to pony up the cash to pay for that military presence. If they can’t (or won’t) it’s time to pull out. Same with Germany, Europe, and all the other places where we maintain a presence.
I don’t fault Bush for going into Iraq (I know that’s hotly contested) but 10 years was too long. No more nation building or trying to ‘Win the Hearts and Minds’. If we feel there is a threat to our security, we need to win and win quickly. Hell we won WWII in 4 years with antiquated military against the greatest military machine in the world. 10 years for Iraq is ridiculous (and we didn’t win the hearts and minds anyway). War is not an endeavor to be taken lightly but when you do, you don’t play by Marquess of Queensberry rules.
Overall I believe the military could be cut by about a third without hurting our security or our standing in the world. Mainly just pulling back our presence anywhere the military is not in our immediate security interests or not paid for by the countries that need it. We need the most advanced military but we don’t need it everywhere in the world. IMHO