A bracing op-ed from a recent vet: highly recommended

[gratuitous]

14. I saw an article some time ago

One of my Facebook friends from high school is a contractor for the defense folks in Washington DC. He writes press releases and stories for in-house reading and use. I think it was him who posted a link to a story about what the mission of the military is these days, and why the military is the go-to agency for nation-building programs, as unlikely as it might seem for the military to be doing them. One of his main conclusions was that the military is the only government agency that gets all the funding it wants or needs. We send the military because that's what we fund. The U.S. doesn't fund humanitarian agencies, because there's no bang for the buck (literally).

It's not just former military personnel speaking out against our country's militarism. There are lots and lots of folks who never donned the uniform who are critical of our nation's priorities. I'm glad for the voices of (mostly former) military, but I wish the media would pay some attention to non-military critics of the military.