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For a minute, let's pretend that all the Middle East problems were solved. Does anyone believe our military would shrink back to pre-WWII size. No, it won't because the world is a dangerous place and it's in the free world's interest to have a modicum of stability. Don't blame big military budgets on big oil, blame it on our allies that free ride, we subsidize their military, their military is us.
That's a rather bizarre reading of what I said   
We do it because no one else is capable and the flow of oil is what drives the modern economies of the west, therefore it's stability. The US needs Mid East oil less than anyone. Bizarre or big picture. I thought the $409 billion number was bizarre.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken
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