In Defense of US military involvement overseas

The Department of Defense functions primarily as a defense agency -- for the protection of private property. This is why we oftentimes need to secure the property of our citizens overseas (i.e. escorting US-flagged vessels in the Middle East).  But if the highest good is the aim of this institution, then other aims might suffer. 

I had a Pakistani classmate complain to me about how their government was headed by corrupt government officials that took bribes from the United States and always sought to increase funding for the military rather than for any social programs. He blamed the US for the root cause of the Pakistani government's current situation. 

First, on moral responsibility. From a Pakistani perspective, agreeing to US terms is a bribe. When one accepts the bribe, one might ask whether the bribe-maker or the bribe-acceptor is morally complicit. Intuitively, both are. So therefore, both the Pakistani government and the US are complicit in keeping Pakistan corrupt.

But if we view the US military as acting for US interests first, then we are not offering a bribe, but a negotiation of terms. Therefore, because both sides agree necessarily to a deal, it becomes a representation of the limited achievement of both sides' ends. The USA is acting in accordance to their leadership's ends. The Pakistani is acting in accordance to their leadership's ends. Now, moral responsibility -- or dissatisfaction with your leadership's decisions -- is a consequence of leadership. Therefore, blaming the US is a category error -- we aren't acting for your highest interest, isn't that obvious?

Another critique of young people enlisting in the military is that you are fighting an "old man's war" and dying for rich people. Well, if one thinks of the DoD as a defense agency, it becomes clear that this may be true, but justified. Perhaps the richer one is, and the more entrepreneurial one is, the more likely one is to have property overseas. But serving in the military is still functioning as an extension of the universal moral law; namely, that every individual owns themselves, their body, their labor, and their property, by extension of the Lockean Proviso. So young people are upholding this reasoning that, upon reflecting on reciprocity, seems intuitive and naturally arrived at.