(Continued from yesterday) So what is the profit that would come from attacking Syria? Why would a reasonable nation pay those costs?
I don't know what the further motive is. Maybe it's there and I can't see it, or maybe there isn't one. After ten years I'm still not sure why we attacked Iraq.
But…
I submit...
The continuation of the military is its own justification.
In Roman terms, it is both our Bread and our Circus. It is our welfare program, our eternal economic stimulus package, our cathartic release, and our way of keeping united in the face of a common foe. It has become the shiney top-of-the-line hammer that we use to fix most problems whether they are nails or not. And when we have such a fancy hammer we need to keep finding reasons to keep it funded. It's hard to justify spending as much on military as every other country on earth combined if we don't "need" it.
This does seem a little too convenient, a bit too "explains everything" for me. But it fits, it explains the insanity of the previous war, and it was predicted well in advance by men much smarter than me.