Well, you guys are being a bit funny. Obviously it IS about peace inasmuch as the vast majority of us actually do recognize the obvious: peace is far preferable to war for hosts of reasons ranging from the moral to the economic.

I keep hearing people say that we seem to get into wars because of a bloodthirsty nature on our part, but I reject that claim. You'll need something more than post hoc reasoning to be able to support it.

Furthermore, we are not a nation that is beholden to that old cliche "the military industrial complex". But even if we were, even if in part, it would be a logic transition to take these technologies and apply them to our next great challenge: the exploration and exploitation of space. Oh and boy won't that be a fun one once the environmentalists sink their teeth into it.

I do see a lot to many of the other points you were making. The last thing I want to contend, however, is the flip throwaway line "seeing communists under every bed." Too many people have that which they constantly deride: a totally non-nuanced "black and white" view of this nation's recent history and the Cold War against the USSR.