Everyone seems to forget that the projection of might in of itself is a deterrent leveraged by all nations. Further, the US is part of multi nation programs, such as NATO in which it's the largest supplier of Capital and Manpower by a large margin. Most of the countries external to the US that bring up this argument, are happily accepting Military and in some instances Economic Aide.
You can't look at the % of spending / annual cost of the greatest military power without taking into account it's responsibilities around the globe.
Nothing above says you have to agree or disagree with the military, in fact many of us aren't pro on a lot of their actions, but this common retort as posted above, is selective data analysis, which I would hope the intellectuals of HN would be able to separate emotions from facts.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/0...
https://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/collectivedefense/