Maybe It's Just Time For America To Go.

[Rastus]

It's time for us to go back to the 50's....

[tombogan03884]

Write in TT and I in 2012.
(If the country lasts that long )

[GUNS-R-US]

After almost 70 years. With our countries own domestic problems, and the strategic relevance? of a military base in Japan; the pattern of thinking "we're just always going to be there" needs a fresh approach. IMHO.

Why do we need to be in Okinawa?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1247281/Thousands-protest-Tokyo-U-S-military-presence-Japan.html

I would move ops to South Korea, just to piss off Kim-Jong-Idiot, that seems strategically and geographically just as good, and it would be good PR, and save money.

I know money means nothing to a gov't that spends it freely as it's technically "our" taxpaying dollars....but geez...

Time to think outside the box.

The younger generation of Koreans don't want us in Korea either. When I was stationed their we had regular protests agains the US bases their. As Tom said Okinawa has a great runway and a place to station our reserves for Korea and Taiwan or any other little shit hole that needs saving!!

[Pathfinder]

Hate to put the brakes on all this isolationist crap, but didn't we learn the dangers of averting our eyes from the world scene under BJ klintoon?

9/11 happened precisely because (a) we stopped paying attention, (b) "we" (as in the gummint) entrenched this myopia in the bureaucracies (e.g. the FBI & CIA "wall"), and (c) we were perceived as weak, dis-interested and non-responsive by our many enemies.

In this day and age, when a disease can hop a plane and be in the States in hours - as can a terrorist or enemy fighter - we need eyes and ears - and boots on the ground - around the world. Perhaps not bases, but even nuclear powered ships need to be re-provisioned occasionally. And we have historically seen countries close their ports to us - as happened after the USS Cole was bombed - just when we needed them. So relying on commercial ports is not only dangerous, it may not even be viable.

The one aspect of Ron Paul I could not stomach was his absurd so-called "foreign policy" - which was little more than Wilson's pre-WWI isolationist sentiments. I can see scaling the number of bases back, but even that is problematic - that would concentrate our presence into a small number of easily eliminated locations.

Simple solutions are good. But if simple gets you attacked - or killed - maybe a little more complicated is a good thing.

[tombogan03884]

 Actually 9-11 happened because our government lacked the guts to kill some one (Bin Laden ) that even BJ knew needed killing.

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

Honestly, if the American Foreign Policy direction, over the last 30+ years, had not been so UN mandated "diplomatic", and we just came out and said we will unequivocally and without any bias or prejudice, bomb anyone back to the stone age if attacked, and any host countries will suffer the consequences for their lack of enforcing International Law regarding Acts Of Terrorism.

The world would gasp, the "diplomatic elite" would call us war mongering radicals, the Un would condemn our remarks, but I'll bet the terrorists "hangin out" in Pakistan, would be rounded up pretty quick.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but the result to Kim-Jong-Idiot, Chavez, little man in Iran, and anyone else would be:

How badly do I want to do this and say something stupid?

It's not isolationism, it's a blanket threat to problematic countries, that reminds the world we are still a Superpower, and we will turn 1/2 of Afghanistan into pretty glass beads if attacked.

No invading troops on the ground, no drones, we're talking B-52's and the good ol' silo's on Submarines, and silo's "somewhere" in Kansas....

[bulldog75]

Another reason 9/11 happened was the intel community was slashed by BJ. He slashed our military also.

[twyacht]

BTW, I forgot to mention, Starting with an air campaign in Somalia, and dive bomb the pirate motherships,  authorize a Jefferson type approach to Muslim Pirates that worked a couple hundred years ago. Navy ships could "seek and destroy" all of them. One warning shot across the bow, and if they resist or run; they are artificial reefs....

Arm the commercial and merchant marine ships, and let Yemen know their next on the smack down. Damascus, Syria, N. Korea, Venezuela, and the UN can relocate to Paris. (seems more fitting),....

Probably, too "rough" around the edges,......in today's world....

Implement an El Al "style" security for commercial air travel. "Don't feel discriminated against, We Profile everybody." Enjoy your flight.

Armed Air Marshalls in plain sight, one in the front and back, pilots required to carry.

Too bad we're such a kind and gentler nation,,,,,seemed to have worked out didn't it?

[tombogan03884]

 I bet if we nuked N Korea and Iran the rest would get REAL peaceful REAL quick.

Syria no longer HAS a nuke program, the Israeli's stole it a couple years ago.
Landed troops to secure the area, loaded up the good stuff, Plutonium, documents, and scientists, and blew up everything else.

[bulldog75]

I bet if we nuked N Korea and Iran the rest would get REAL peaceful REAL quick.

Syria no longer HAS a nuke program, the Israeli's stole it a couple years ago.
Landed troops to secure the area, loaded up the good stuff, Plutonium, documents, and scientists, and blew up everything else.

And our current administration has tried to piss them off. Not the sort of fellas we want after us. Maybe we should poke them with a stick and get them to do our dirty work and finish off the rest of the radical islam.