Quote Originally Posted by poop
Right, but the US doesn't need middle east oil anymore. I suspect their interest in that region is largely fuelled by the Israeli lobby and the military-industrial complex.
Well, certainly Israel's interests are important, but I'm sure USA do need Saudi oil. Maybe I'm wrong, perhaps they do have access to sufficient resources outside of the ME, but American oil alone surely isn't going to cut it.

Which enemies are threatening America again? If you say Russia I will lol.
Yeah I think you should know by now that I don't consider Russia to be an actual threat. USA and Russia have a mutually beneficial "rivalry" that ensures both of them can spend large amounts of money on the military without raising too many eyebrows at home.

But America does indeed have enemies who would love to see the end of USA's status as the world's leading superpower. Iran are one, and Iran are allied to Russia, which does complicate matters. I don't think Russia will risk war with America to support the Mullahs, but if America were weaker, maybe they would. Perhaps America doesn't have any serious enemies because nobody is actually capable of winning an all-out-war against them.

These kinds of wars are practically unwinnable.
It depends on your goal. If the aim of the war is to cause economic hardship, without doing so to USA, then they are most certainly winning them. Iran should be a great deal more economically successful, they have fantastic universities and a large population of motivated people. USA have done their best to keep Iran economically stagnant, and have succeeded.

America's military power provides a deterrent against anyone who considers attacking them.

But, it's a question of ROI. If you spend trillions on a war that gains you billions (or nothing, which is more common) in economic gain, you're weakening your economic strength which in turn will weaken your military strength.
I think neither of us are well placed to assess the economic gain from warfare. It's not just about what USA gains, it's about what other nations lose. And we have no idea if the trillions spent by USA is only worth billions in economic gain. The people pulling the strings in USA are much better placed to make those judgments. But perhaps you're right, maybe they are overspending and it will all come crashing down. Maybe those in control are too greedy or too stupid to crunch the numbers. Greedy is much more likely.

but the idea that any of the wars the US has been involved in since WWII have benefitted it seems pretty unlikely to me.
They remain the prime global superpower, the leading global economy, and nobody would dare attack them. Sure they've benefited.

So why fight them? I'm not sure, but certainly the military-industrial complex likes war, so there's that force pushing. Also, the populace tends to get behind the leader when wars happen, so there's another incentive in an election year. These seem to be more likely reasons than that those wars are good for the country.
Internal political reasons are certainly a factor. And the war hawks like war because it makes them money, I think that's really all there is to it from their pov. I don't think they are literally bloodthirsty, but I can even begin to put myself in their shoes so idk.

One problem though is high-tech weapons are expensive.
They will get cheaper.

$100k is a lot to spend on a guy that can get killed by a bomb some peasant made using fertilizer and spare clock parts.
It's peanuts to a government, especially USA. Look at it this way... it costs a million to train ten soldiers, and if two die, then they spent a million on eight soldiers. Still peanuts.