The United States military has been a failure for the past 60 years due to being overextended. This may sound like an extreme statement, but most fail to consider the fact that this nation has not outright won a war since World War II. The immense military budget would also be able to solve many economic issues back home, as well as fund new and promising initiatives that have become a standard in other countries, such as free healthcare or reduced pricing for college. It may also be worth noting that many believe America only creates more conflict by attempting to settle others’ disputes and impose its political will onto the nations it attempts to help. When looking at the big picture, it is quite clear to see that the military operations overseas, in the past 20 years especially, have been entirely unsuccessful.

Plenty examples of these so-called “victories” exist since the end of World War II, but none ever had a decisive victor. Take the Korean War for example. The American’s lost thousands of troops, but still managed to kill millions of Korean citizens. Yet after all the bloodshed, the military could only manage a stalemate, which still surpassed the outcome of the Vietnam War in terms of success. Moving on to the Middle East, the United States government manipulated the country’s view by using the 9/11 terrorist attacks as an excuse to start an unrelated war in Iraq, a country allegedly tied to terrorist organizations. This proved to be false, and a costly mistake for America, like so many other recent conflicts.

After seeing the US military’s track record recently, its budget seems completely unjustifiable. Due to being trapped in a never ending war against terror in the Middle East, the military budget equates to 60% of America’s tax dollars. No other nation prioritizes its monstrously large military to an extent even close to the United States. Barney Frank, a congressman from Massachusetts, firmly believes that the United States military could continue its role as the largest military in the world by far with only three quarters of its current budget, saving hundreds of billions of dollars in the process. This money being spent in such an absurd way is an insult to the American people. Their tax dollars could be used to fund a program that has been considered a basic human right by much of the world for decades: free health care. This is only one of hundreds of other programs lacking funding. Why do the leaders of this country choose to protect those halfway across the world when there is still so much work to be done at home?

If anybody were to take a long, hard, and honest look at the current state of the United States military, they would see that their country has been slowly digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole. There is no success to justify this, only excuses and apologies. The economic crisis continually gets worse. A portion of a defense budget allocated hundreds of billions of dollars would certainly be beneficial, yet it stays the same. Though the conflict still goes on, the Middle East doesn’t want or need the United States anymore, but they persist with military activity in the area. This conflict needs to end, sooner rather than later.