"When the army engages in protracted campaigns, the resources of the state will fall short." - Sun Tzu
From Korea to Vietnam to Iraq, the US has been invading foreign countries for decades, often with questionable results. This state of near continual warfare has a high cost: in lives, in dollars and in blow back. We spend much more on "defense" than any other country in the world.
Stop the culture of fear, the preemptive strikes and the war mongering propaganda. We do not need to police the world nor does most of the world want us to.
Every dollar spend on "defense" could be spent here creating domestic jobs. Those dollars could be spent on the education of our children, on healthcare and on infrastructure. Those saved dollars could be used to pay down our debt.