No matter what your views on evolution vs. creation, you have to admit that fighting wars is pretty compelling evidence that we just might be spawned from chimps. Without question, our technology and weaponry put us on a different level, but the wars we wage are for no higher purpose than the territorial battles primates wage. Essentially it comes down to us wanting something, someone else having it, and us using brute force to take it. Either that, or it's a matter of someone taking too much from us and us getting tired of letting them take it. Sounds somewhat similar to the situation we find ourselves in today, yes?

Like them or not, wars have been a big part of what has made the US a dominant world power. At some point after WWII ended, however, we somehow lost sight of the fact that successfully waging a war requires a tangible, identifiable enemy and clear, attainable objectives. Our current wars are especially devoid of those characteristics, and that is why they are accomplishing nothing. Our War on Terror has succeeded only in exacerbating the effects of the recession and compromising our freedom and quality of life at home. On the other hand, it has made a lot of rich people a lot richer and begun to eliminate the bothersome middle class, so it hasn't been all bad.

Without question, many honorable men and women have given their lives over the years in the name of protecting our freedom (or making us richer as a nation, which isn't too bad either), and those people should be remembered with the utmost gratitude and honor. It's the ones telling them what to do that I don't respect as much.