Yes, we go to war for our own benefits--for our own purposes. Always have (I'm pretty sure it's not even a uniquely American tendancy!), always will. We tend not to spend billions of dollars and lose thousands of men and women if we don't see some positive reason for it.

But sometimes, when something is good for the US, it just might (accidentally, against all odds, despite our best efforts to be completely self-centered and uncaring about the rest of the world) result in "good" for someone else, too.

Personally, I'd like to think that maybe our decision-makers even give brief consideration to that collateral benefit while making decisions. Little more than a passing thought, perhaps, but consideration nonetheless.