Not so fast; you may ignore me after defending your accusation that I've disrespected any good man/woman. Cite it or be man enough to retract.
Let me clarify this for you since you're having trouble following. The 'war' with Spain was not a defensive war but our new sense of imperialism taking advantage of a flagging European power, a war of yellow journalism and monied interests; a permanent break from neutrality that Jefferson and many founders advocated. Rather than lift the heavy hand of Spain from Guam, Cuba and Phillipines, we replaced it. Manifest destiny never sleeps.
Japan and Germany attacked us why? Were "evil-doers" simply attacking us because "they hate our freedoms" even back then? Was VNam a "good war"? Iraq? And how are our handpicked dictators better than ones we don't like? How many Uncle Joe/Pinochet/Shah buddies do we need to cycle through before wising up? Taliban, ISIS, anyone?
What other examples of 'defensive wars' do you have? It's a short list, isn't it? Our government - and that includes military and intelligence brass - has wasted many young lives in wars we had no business in and it continues. Jingoistic fools never tire of 1984-type boogeyman sporting a fresh coat of lipstick.