I think this is an oversimplification of the reasons people could have for protesting. The military is not just about resolving conflict through material power

I think this is an oversimplification of the reasons people could have for protesting. The military is not just about resolving conflict through material power. It supervises a massive industrial machine which twists our entire country around its values. Dwight D. Eisenhower described the situation in 1961: > Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. > Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. > This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. Stopping this "total influence" from affecting the values of your employer is a separate goal from ending war altogether.