War- What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing

Dwight D. Eisenhower, I don't think anyone would say he was soft on war, or on the very real military threats he faced as President. I would put forth the argument that based on the rhetoric of our current Republican presidential candidates and the war cries of their conservative base that today Mr. Eisenhower would be unelectable. We have been so willing to sacrifice some of our freedoms and principles to fight the war on terror. Our ongoing detainment of "enemy combatants" in Cuba is in violation of those principles and our law. Are we so afraid of terrorists that we are willing to sacrifice freedom to prevent another attack? How much freedom sacrificed on the altar of safety will it take before we say enough? How many of our young men and women will be lose on the battlefield of war before we decide the cost is too high? How many widowed wives? How many orphaned children? We go in with no plan for victory and no clue how to withdraw. We build aircraft carriers, bombers, submarines and other military hardware to fight an enemy that no longer exists. While the Republican candidates will argue on one hand the government doesn't create jobs, they argue on the other hand that there would be too many jobs lost if we cut defense spending. Last time I  checked that was money spent and jobs created by the government. Eisenhower was right we are spending the sweat of our laborers, the genius of our scientists and the hopes of our children. So much could be done to alleviate the problems of the world with the money we waste on unnecessary military spending. Yes we need to be able to defend ourselves but the current level of spending is obscene.  The world might need less guns and bombs if the poor were fed, clothed and given basic medical care. The government throws around the cost of the last two wars as about $800,000,000,000. How much good could we have done with that? Many articles I have read place the actual cost at closer to 3,500,000,000,000. The cost in terms of human suffering is incalculable.  We can and should know and do better.