The defense establishment is doing it to preserve their jobs. It was easy to fundraise against the USSR because it was big and had nukes. Between the collapse of the USSR and 9/11 they were rudderless, some thinking they could reform the military into some kind of humanitarian force with bombs. Then 9/11 happened and they had another Big Bad in Islamic terrorism but now China is big and good at science and building shit they have a better adversary than some religious nut jobs in a cave somewhere.
The defense establishment is doing it to preserve their jobs. It was easy to fundraise against the USSR because it was big and had nukes. Between the collapse of the USSR and 9/11 they were rudderless, some thinking they could reform the military into some kind of humanitarian force with bombs. Then 9/11 happened and they had another Big Bad in Islamic terrorism but now China is big and good at science and building shit they have a better adversary than some religious nut jobs in a cave somewhere.