Ruling classes want non-ruling classes to pay for and provide cannon fodder for the wars that benefit the ruling classes.

Ruling classes also know they will not survive a general nuclear war.

It is true, our economy is driven by a military-industrial complex and prospers when we are waging war agsinst some opponent. In 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down followed by the fall and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990, peace broke out.

Military operations were redirected toward peace keeping and managing local skirmishes (Mogadishu and Black Hawk Down). Within a year, the military announced it could no longer afford to operate as it previously had. The mitary began announcing base closings across the country that were considered marginally important.

Communities adjacent and attached to military bases began to fail as local economies failed with the base closings. State and Federal politicians complained vociferously with this loss of income and revenue.

Subsequently, in January of 1991, pretext was found to enter Iraq with a miltary invasion (Gulf War I - DesertvStorm). We have been at war somewhere ever since. The military-industrial complex lives on and thrives.

War is Amerika's major export, it's what keeps the economy rolling along and the blood of the soldiers is what lubricates the wheels of commerce. This isn't about patriotism, nobody has attacked the US since Pearl Harbour, this is about war for profit. We should mourn the dead like we do the other workers who die because greedy business owners throw their workers into harms way in order to increase their profits.

Sadly true.