> This is a simplistic, even childlike, view of the relationship between the US and Europe. The situation is the way it is because the US wanted it...

People who do know history would tell you that you don't get peace by dismantling industrial and military capacity. To blame this on "because the US wanted it that way" is just naive. The US might have wanted it that way, but so what? It happened because it was easier to sell domestically compared to allocating hundreds of billions on say, 5th gen fighters.