Quote from gnome:
"Pound of flesh"? Since when is anything free?
Take your example.... What if America had stayed out of WWII? Not stopped Hitler from conquering Europe and the UK? Not stopped Japan from conquering China? Not fought to end the war in Korea? Not stopped Saddam in Kuwait?
Where would the world be?
Don't you realize that the HUGE majority of wars are fought about someone wanting to conquer another to either capture their assets/resources and/or enslave their people? America has always been about STOPPING SUCH AGGRESSION... we've not "invaded others" for any reason other than to stop [perceived] injustice!
Taking an "outside looking in" view.... you want to say, "YES, you stopped Hitler, YES you stopped the Japanese, YES you stopped the North Koreans/Chinese, YES you stopped Saddam, and YES, you've sent us $TRILLIONS in foreign aid... And the free world is a better place for all you've done, all the lives you've lost and all the money you've spent... BUT YOU'RE STILL SHIT IN OUR EYES? We've given HUGE to the world... our money, our service personnel's lives... What more do you fucking people want?
Personally, I wish we'd have stayed out of others' political squabbles... we Amercans would be less the poorer for it.