Elroy, you need to see the bigger picture. After Germany was pacified, we kept 70,000 troops there for 60 years. Only recently have we drawn down that number. In South Korea and Japan, we kept 75,000 troops. Only recently have we started to draw that down. In total, we kept 200,000 troops stationed in Europe and Asia (http://www.cato.org/dailys/7-24-98.html) as part of the U.S. global strategic posture for 60 years! All of this was was meant to keep Russia and China in check during the cold war. It worked and we have now started to draw them down.
The new threat the U.S. faces is in the Middle East. We have rotated quite a few troops from Germany, South Korea, and Japan, straight over to Iraq and Afghanistan. The net cost to the U.S. over what we were spending with troops deployed in Europe is higher, because Europe was subsidizing our troops. However, if we are to maintain peace in the Middle East, then we are going to need a large troop and Navy presence in the region for decades to come. I'd like to see our troops drawn down in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I have no illusions that most will be coming home. We will need bases, airstrips, and aircraft carriers in the region to support troops stationed in the Middle East for the foreseeable future, because that will remain the hotspot for decades until all of those countries become Democratic, just like most of Eastern Europe did after the fall of the U.S.S.R. So you might as well get use to the idea. |
