The problem is that the war on terror has a lot more supporters because it plays on the fears of the populace, and the fears stem from a generic enemy that we can never really defeat. We spend so much on our "national defense" for the very same reasons. On the surface, they will say it is for our protection or safety or whatever else. In reality, big fat defense contracts are filling the pockets of a select few people, and often times we're spending orders of magnitude more on things than we otherwise would be.