Quote Originally Posted by JJackson View Post
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Have I missed the point?
It's a long story, a lot more than defense as RTK pointed out, worldwide presence for another thing and the sheer cost of things today.

The Peaceniks will eventually win because no one will be able to afford to fight...

There's also, as W.S. Churchill said, the fact that:

"You can always rely on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried every conceivable alternative."

He was being polite. We bumble a lot.