Take a look at this article.
Cox and Archer: Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt - WSJ.com
In this Wall Street Journal article, it states that the government does not put all its debt on the books. In short, the total unfunded national debt is more like $86 trillion. Last year $7 trillion was run up just by Social Security and Medicare alone. If you took the combined wealth of all the rich folk in the US I dare say it would not come close to that number.
I don't take issue with the wars abroad, nor a sane tax code, but you can't ignore the 700 pound gorilla in the room either even though both parties in Washington do. It is akin to how Wall Street cooks the books.
As for the wars abroad, I say it is a direct result of the beast that the federal government has become. In short, they have become so large and powerful and meddlesome that they don't stop with the citizenery, it will naturally progress internationally as well. Therefore, to simply lay this at the feet of the GOP is a mistake, especially after Mr. Nobel Prize started a war all by his lonesome and escalated another.