If Americans were honest about this they'd realize we spend way too much defending or occupying lands and places where the only thing we accomplish is providing an economic base for the local inhabitants. Anyone who has served knows this, in the good US of A at least our military is supporting the locals here - what, do you guys want all those massage parlors to go out of business? Only joking there - in truth corporate America and the military industrial complex as both Lincoln and Eisenhower warned is a drain on monies that could be spent in more productive ways. And we'd still have the mightiest military power on earth.
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist....We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." Dwight D. Eisenhower
"It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war." Abraham Lincoln in a letter to William F. Elkins, November 21, 1864.