It's nearly always about natural resources, just because the US has the largest oil reserves doesn't mean it's going to stop there. And the wars you mentioned are just the boots on the ground (or drones in the air) conflicts. Were still backing coups in Latin America (Honduras, Venezuela, Bolivia) so US friendly governments are put into place that will allow American companies to extract their resources.
> This is useful for trade and military operations.
This has been an unfortunate truth for the US and USSR before it (and other empires before that).
For a depressing insight into how little we have learned, Boys in Zinc
by Svetlana Alexievich is a good read.
