"Chad Irby" wrote

Hell, I've known adult humans - I'm not calling them "grown-ups" - who
would look you straight in the eye and tell you, seriously, that the
United States doesn't need a military, period.

If it wasn't for an oil based society, they would be believable. But we need
all the Nukes and Forces we can muster to keep the oil fields and the sea lanes
open. Thus, until we harness fusion, we are stuck with the MIC (military
industrial complex) as a cornerstone of our economy.

The middle east, Europe, and Asia are important to us, only in the way they
are dependant on the same energy sources. Our relation to them, is as a
competitor, and a threat to keep them from interfering with our oil reserves.