[cftm]

This exactly.

The cold war was ended by the Strategic Defense Initiative - not because it worked but because we forced the USSR to pour resources into matching us and it bankrupted the country.

[mjevans]

What an horrid war of attrition. The only winning move is to have deeper pockets.

[nradov]

It was less horrid than the alternative.

[SubiculumCode]

Yes it was resources used non productively. But winning a war with metal and bombs and radiation---priceless.