Tangentially, can anyone explain to me precisely how the US itself being at war is a net gain for the US economy? Not saying it isn't, I just don't understand the mechanics.
Like, I get the iron triangle military-industrial-congressional complex, but that seems like a mostly closed system -- US tax dollars paying US military personnel, funding US companies development and manufacturing products used by the US military, and bribing US legislators.
I also understand the dynamic of US covert intelligencia orchestrating proxy wars to create buyers for US arms and equipment, but that doesn't seem like it should necessitate any involvement from the US military itself -- except as an excuse to create newer armaments so the old shit can be sold off.
I also understand the resource acquisition element, e.g. oil. I also assume there's some sort of geopolitical reciprocity for the US acting as a rent-a-cop for NATO/UN, though I admittedly don't know what that looks like. But I just can't imagine any of these things generating enough of a profit to offset what's getting skimmed off the top in order to perpetuate the cycle.
Where does the profit come from? Is it really just selling bombs?