A veteran's view of war

As a person who spent 20 years in the military, I have a view of war that not many my age or younger have. But it may be my view of a war's end that is strange to most, both those that served that those that never have. I believe that there are good reasons to go to war, and there are wars that have no reason at all. But in this day and age of wars being declared not against a country, but a regime or terrorists, I think it is imperative to know when to call a war a win and leave. But we as a country have not learned this, or so it seems. Now let's take a few places that we have military now, see how they got there, and let's see if they are still needed there. Korea, where we still have a large contingent of military, was due to the Korean war. And North Korea still would like to overthrow the government of South Korea, so military is needed there. Western Europe, where we fought WW II and defended against the USSR. Well, now there is no USSR, and does anyone in Europe worry about a Russian conquest? If not, which I highly suspect, then bring them home. We definitely won that war. If a base or two is need there for forward-deploying of forces, then that's fine. But do we need to be at all the bases in Europe we're at? Now for the tough ones. Iraq? Now that is a question that is just about answered. We went there under false pretenses, but over-threw an evil dictator, and have helped build a country. And it looks like we are leaving. And we should leave completely. And now, Afghanistan. We went there to find bin-Laden, kill him and dismantle Al-Quida in that country. Mission accomplished. And we have stayed to help build a government. But now, if we stayed another 10, 20, or even 30 years, would the government be stronger, the situation any different than it is now? Since the answer is no, we must bring those troops home now, too. So what do we do with these troops? Now that's a question for another blog.