Defense is not its ethos, nor is it how our military is structured.  Our military is a power-projection force.  It is an offensive force.  It is designed to take the fight to the enemy.  To strike first, usually justified as "preemptive" or "preventive" action.  It's a military that believes "the best defense is a good offense," with leaders who believe in "full-spectrum dominance," i.e. quick and overwhelming victories, enabled by superior technology and firepower, whether on the ground, on the seas, in the air, or even in space or cyberspace.

Thus the "global war on terror" wasn't a misnomer, or at least the word "global" wasn't.  Consider the article below today at TomDispatch.com by Stephanie Savell.