US spends more on military than:
China, Russia, UK, Japan, France, Saudi Ariabia, and a lot more COMBINED.

It has 39% of world share! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures)

That's $682,000,000,000.00 per year; or roughly $2 billion per day!

So yes, US companies make money; and it is oldest business model yet; well maybe after prostitution there; but it's way old, like from the stone ages.

Think otherwise means naive/blind by pride.

10 $enemy = rand ($enemies);
20 $message = $enemy perpetrated $act_of_war against us implying that we should $form_of_retaliation
30 send(CONGRESS, $message)
40 ???
50 profit!!!
60 goto 10

"I know that Iraq used chemical weapons, as did Iran." Where'd you get the idea Iran did? As far as I know, you are wrong here.

"..., as did Iran." I don't see any reference here. I'm not a historian on this stuff; but, I am skeptical Iran started. After WWII, many countries changed. US took on new roles it never had; with that, US expansionism, too. The affair with Iran is over oil; nothing else makes any sense there at all. As such, it doesn't make sense what you say. Look at oil prices in past century. http://www.globaleye.org.uk/se...

"I know that Iraq used chemical weapons, as did Iran." Do you have any reference for that? That is, showing Iran used them as well? Any source I have checked say Iraq used; this is first time I hear that Iran used. Bottom line is, Iran didn't "start" this. US expansionism has caused this. After WWII, the new role it had.

"... until the revolutionary Islamist government took power and declared the US to be its enemy." That's because Iraq attacked Iran then. Where Iraq used biological bombs; Iran refused to stoop to that level. Iraq, with US intelligence+weapons. As such, US was their enemy too. Note that it was a coup, not "counter-coup." Even the CIA admits to that: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/... Stephen Kinzer wrote a Bestseller there: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.

What was that, "Golden rule" or "Eye for eye"? Looks like you're still in the latter buddy; except you're probably "Eye for scrape"

The coup d'etat was way before your date (which was 79' revolution.) You can read more about that at wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1... It probably dates way before these dates.