I think any excuse under the sun is good enough as long at it helps expand the MIC to infinity At that point that's the only explanation that makes sense to me, regarding that never ending quest for a reason to wage war on something, somewhere... The MIC or rather the MICC (military industrial congressional complex) is a "magic" war machine designed to never run out of "fuel", in the eventuality of a new, long lasting, war effort, with the cold war as background. Since then, it has gone global (think NATO), pretty much like everything else, starting with corporations Downside is once it's on you can't turn it off, it needs to remain in perpetual growth, which isn't compatible with peace on the long run, it feeds on war That's how I see it, now maybe I'm wrong or not exactly right