Now, if I may ask, who exactly are they protecting it from? Wo is it that threatens America?
I'm working my way through the wonderful book Sorrows of Empire, and it makes some rather brilliant points on the subject of militarism.
The military-industrial complex has become the status quo, as it was never meant to be, so that now, there is an army, indeed a whole military class, without an enemy, and hence, a purpose. The US was never intended to have a standing army during peace-time, the founding fathers considered it, rightly so, as a threat to liberty. You see, in that past hundred years or so, the US has been moving steadily towards empire, and is now perhaps the most expansive in history,
When you say "protecting America", you don't really mean America as a physical location, as the national territory of America, as most other countries do. You mean "American interests" which is anyone that threatens US hegemony. Iraq (and Iran, Syria, North Korea and others) are in no way a threat to America, they are a threat, or rather an obstacle, to American interests, which is generally military occupation and the profits of American corporations which influence policy.
Maybe you ought to shake that grey matter around a bit and ponder this point.
oh and, I'm Rictor. Seeing as how you're new, you'll very quickly come to recognize me as the bastard who loves to argue politics and can't keep his mouth shut.