The big guy on the block: a recipe for eternal war?

It is the nature of defense establishments to conjure up enemies to justify healthy funding of military budgets.

Still every so often a real enemy does appear. If not, history shows, governments go out to make one. There is nothing like an external threat to justify a buildup of national power.

Fortunately for our military, America is the big guy on the block. "We" have plenty of enemies to challenge our power, to shelter our terrorist enemies, to develop nuclear weapons to oppose us, to thumb their noses in our face.

No need to make up enemies, as the above images of fighting in Iraq show.

Indeed it may be wise to avoid more shooting wars, for example against Iran and/ or North Korea....

Afghanistan and the remnants of Iraq should do nicely.

At least for now.....

While it can be great to have a weak enemy, such as Cuba under Castro or Panama under Noriega, four toughies at once can be a bit much.

Who knows? If we use our heads, two more wars might just be avoided. Some enemies can be isolated -- or even enticed into a dialogue.

But maybe not.

Being the world's only superpower can be a recipe for eternal war.