But situations like Ukraine (and what’s brewing in Taiwan) are conclusive proof that we need a capable military.
That’s extremely facile. The word “capable” is a massive understatement. Our military budget is bigger than the next ten countries combined. That includes Russia and China. There are years when the American military budget grows by an amount bigger than the entire Russian budget.
Also, because American weapons do sometimes end up on what you consider the right side of a conflict doesn’t conclusively prove anything about the American war industry, or the American military, in general. There’s a Yemen, a Gaza, an Iraq, or a Pakistan for every Ukraine.
re:Taiwan - When reporting on the situation in Taiwan, American media relies heavily on think tanks like the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It’s a very sanitized, academic sounding name, but they’re funded by the Arms industry and the Pentagon, and all they ever do is advocate for a bigger military budget. I’m not saying that China is puppies and rainbows, but I am saying that our military budget is already so much bigger than China’s, and that these think tanks have a vested financial interest in convincing us that China is a huge threat and our budget is too small to confront it.
Just to add another example, it’s the same with Iran: When those protests broke out in 2017, the American media had arms-industry-funded think tanks on nonstop constantly advocating for “regime change” and military build up in a country already completely surrounded by American military bases. That doesn’t seem like a good faith path to peace to me. Imagine for a second how the US would react if Iran put a single base within our hemisphere, let alone all along the Canada and Mexico borders.