Remember all the talk of a peace dividend at the end of the Cold War?� Seems like a long time ago, hasn�t it?� Since that time, U.S. defense spending has ballooned, nearly doubling since 2001.�

Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, it will be hard for the war hawks to defend keeping American troops in Afghanistan.� But they will, even as a majority of people want to cut military spending in order to reduce the deficit, rather than cut important social programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.� There�s lots of money in the Pentagon, and a group of experts has recommended cutting almost $1 trillion from defense over the next decade.� People know that the military-industrial-complex is a drain on the nation�s economy - a threat to economic security, and a parasite that is eating its host bit by bit.

It is hard to shake off bad habits, and the U.S. has a number of them.� This addiction to remaining in a permanent state of war is one of the largest and most problematic.� There is the war on terror and the war on drugs.� The former is used to justify the behemoth that is the national security apparatus.� Meanwhile, the latter facilitates the growth of the prison-industrial-complex, and the incarceration of predominantly poor, uneducated black and Latino men, in a country with no jobs for them.� These two systems are equally exploitative and destructive to human lives, and corporations have found their niche in profiting from the suffering of others.

And while profiting in such a manner is an unsustainable model for the long-term success of a nation, some remain undeterred from pursuing this path.�� America spends about as much on military as the rest of the world - combined.� We imprison more people than any other nation, including the most repressive dictatorships you can imagine.� In fact, the land of the free is home to only 5 percent of the world�s population, but 25 percent of the world�s prisoners.

Here, we lock �em up and shoot �em up. �And we�ll go visit someone else�s backyard and lock �em up and shoot �em up too.� And our voracious appetite for guns at home perversely complements our lust for senseless war abroad.� With 90 guns for nearly every 100 people, the U.S. is the most armed nation on the planet, and we have shocking homicide statistics to prove it.� The Second Amendment is used as a pretext for an astounding level of gun proliferation that is unheard of in� and incompatible with� a stable democratic society.� But we know that the NRA, which, by the way, is increasingly allied with right-wing extremists, militias and domestic terrorists, is funded by the gun industry to the tune of millions of dollars.� This, as illegal firearms ravage our urban communities�

If so-called American exceptionalism is to be found in war, then Americans are in deeper trouble than they realize.� The U.S. has the most advanced military weaponry and high-tech toys for its soldiers to kill and destroy, while American cities crumble under the weight of their low-grade, early-twentieth century infrastructure.� Europe and Asia is decades ahead in high-speed rail because they actually have it, and this nation elects politicians who attack high-speed rail as some big government welfare giveaway program.�� And the rest of the world laughs, as we wage war on ourselves, with culture wars, a war on intelligence and progress, and assaults on women�s rights, workers and immigrants.� Sounds like a winning strategy, if your goal is to fail miserably�exceptionally miserably.

BlackCommentator.com Executive Editor, David A. Love, JD is a journalist and human rights advocate based in Philadelphia, is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. and a contributor to The Huffington Post, the Grio, The Progressive Media Project, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, In These Times and Philadelphia Independent Media Center. He also blogs at davidalove.com, NewsOne, Daily Kos, and Open Salon. Click here to contact Mr. Love.