America's global reach -- too much, too far?

The New York Times recently performed an invaluable service with an op-ed reminding its readers of both the global extent and the long-standing nature of the United States' many overseas military deployments, obligations and wars ("America's Forever Wars"). It is indeed something we all need reminding about from time to time.

The article began with the obvious: that this country has been at war continuously since the attacks of 9/11, and in a conflict which, in its ramifications, has drawn American forces into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in pursuit of Islamic terrorists. But it also pointed to the many overseas deployments that now go back for generations, to the Korean War, even to the very early Cold War. The result, according to the Defense Department's own figures, is that the U.S. has more than 240,000 active-duty and reserve