Is the USA likely to go to war against anyone with sophisticated weaponry any time soon? It seems like we're mostly interested in wars in the third world at this point, and the A10 seems pretty well suited to that.
It's more game theory: If you have state of the art weaponry, the competition is less likely to start a war with you.
This mentality also lead to the nuclear arms race, and today it is more about a race for automation and precision than just mass destruction.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-army-may-station-tanks-eastern-euro...
Army families pay close attention to the deployment of A-10's for good reason. On one side, A-10's provide critical assistance against enemy tanks and armored vehicles (combat leverage). On the other, it means soldiers (family members) are being deployed for possible ground combat.
A military is like a parachute. It seems pretty useless until you need it.
Iran would obviously retaliate against efforts to destroy their nuclear infrastructure. Russia has stated that it will defend Russians anywhere leaving many Eastern European countries in question. China has stated quite clearly this year that it will start to assert its position as a counterweight superpower to the US.