Then you would be wrong. We do not have to keep our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan or 170 other countries in order to keep this nation secure. We DO, however, have to secure our borders, something no one has wanted to do for decades. Once we do THAT we can discuss other methods, but until we secure our own borders, we need to stop pretending that all will be well by keeping our troops in foreign nations. It doesn’t work that way. And that is my professional opinion, as one who spent his adult life in the service of my country.
Empire always ends the same way. Good for defense contractors I suppose. Merely defending our nation would put a big dent in profits.