America's wars and the US debt crisis

IN the year 2000, the US government debt was $3.5 trillion, equal to 35 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). By 2022, the debt was $24 trillion, equal to 95 percent of GDP. The US debt is soaring, hence America's current debt crisis. Yet both Republicans and Democrats are missing the solution: stopping America's wars of choice and slashing military outlays.

Suppose the government's debt had remained at a modest 35 percent of GDP, as in 2000. Today's debt would be $9 billion, as opposed to $24 trillion. Why did the US government incur the excess $15 trillion in debt?