The Real Cost of War

Many people talk about the cost of war, the military industrial complex and the deaths. The talk about the billions of dollars spent to wage war and the toll it takes on our nations budget. But rarely does anyone in these discussions address; The Real Cost of War.
Before we discuss the cost of war, let us call it an investment in the future and let's look at the things civilization gets from war expenditures. We pour money into research and development and innovation and from these expenditures we now have such things as the Internet, Jet Aircraft, Nuclear Power, Microwave Ovens, Satellite TV, new materials, infrastructure improvements, mass transit system. Think on that although not the main thrust of your argument of the typical debate on the "cost of war" it must be addressed to put war into a proper context.
Actually the cost of "no war" could be greater, for "the leader who fails to protect his civilization does so at the expense of it" Carl von Clauswitz. Today we are a nation at the top of the food chain, the longer we keep it that way the better for the free world we are not enemies to peace, we are its purveyors! No one is allowed to harm our people or this nation. We have declared ourselves; "Off Limits" to International Terrorism, not here. No games, no acceptance and if anyone wants to try it, no survivors. I like my country and no one should be allowed to mess it up. Nobody and if that means taking our battle to the enemy at the time and place of our choosing while covering our butts here at home, let's get it done.
As far as modern humans being on the planet, although no one knows that for sure it is probably 400,000 to 1.5 million, but we do not know that. Some might have a problem with that statement, I do not, but it is not an absolute. The genetic flaw may have been the driving force to build, defend, create and the brain power to innovate. I.E. Necessity mother of invention; humans are not perfect, but as a species we are clearly on of the larger life form surface dwelling winners in our food chain, deny it?
War is a horrible tragedy of the human species indeed, but thru war we have also bettered ourselves and our civilization and those new technologies have allowed for the forward progression of mankind and opened opportunities we may never have had, as so many of the things you take for granted today were born of wartime technologies.