> Gosh, what would the world be like if our troops and munitions weren't murdering civilians and prolonging conflicts in a monotonically-increasing set of nations around the world? It's not "unknowable"; we just have to start voting...

Hah! I didn't say you couldn't have an opinion on it. Only that you can't know the world that "could have been".

> Also what does net present value have to do with any of this?

Squander is a word which means to waste. If a government project has a net economic (or public health) benefit then by definition the money was not squandered.