US Military Bases, even if they didn't pay a red cent, we would not leave

[Weatherman2020]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
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See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. To even think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

Practice makes perfect.

US to close 15 bases in Europe

We closed enough bases at home.
We can close them in Europe

The treat of the Soviets charging through the Fulda gap and invading Europe is long gone

‘They Will Die in Tallinn’: Estonia Girds for War With Russia

 

[Weatherman2020]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. To even think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

Practice makes perfect.

US to close 15 bases in Europe

We closed enough bases at home.
We can close them in Europe

The treat of the Soviets charging through the Fulda gap and invading Europe is long gone

‘They Will Die in Tallinn’: Estonia Girds for War With Russia

Austin Bay's On PointSweden Prepares For Russian Aggression

 

[frigidweirdo]

China tried to go for that in Cuba. Didn’t work out. US neighbors, even if they actually hate us, know better.

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
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See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. Too ever think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

And that's why so many people hate the US.

But then China's taking over. Mexico will look like Germany, Chinese bases all over the northern part.

I know nothing about Chinese military in Mexico, do you have a link?

This isn't a present situation. It's a potential future situation.

The more the US alienates people around it, the more they might run off to the Chinese. China doesn't like the US having bases in South Korea and Japan. It'd love to do the same to the US.

China tried to do what?

 

[depotoo]

Do some research. They have tried to get their military in the door of Cuba for decade.s

China tried to go for that in Cuba. Didn’t work out. US neighbors, even if they actually hate us, know better.

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. Too ever think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

And that's why so many people hate the US.

But then China's taking over. Mexico will look like Germany, Chinese bases all over the northern part.

I know nothing about Chinese military in Mexico, do you have a link?

This isn't a present situation. It's a potential future situation.

The more the US alienates people around it, the more they might run off to the Chinese. China doesn't like the US having bases in South Korea and Japan. It'd love to do the same to the US.

China tried to do what?

 

[frigidweirdo]

Do some research. They have tried to get their military in the door of Cuba for decade.s

China tried to go for that in Cuba. Didn’t work out. US neighbors, even if they actually hate us, know better.

And that's why so many people hate the US.

But then China's taking over. Mexico will look like Germany, Chinese bases all over the northern part.

I know nothing about Chinese military in Mexico, do you have a link?

This isn't a present situation. It's a potential future situation.

The more the US alienates people around it, the more they might run off to the Chinese. China doesn't like the US having bases in South Korea and Japan. It'd love to do the same to the US.

China tried to do what?

Have they really?

But it's your argument, your research.

 

[LuckyDuck]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. To even think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

The bases in Germany should relocate to Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

 

[whitehall]

I don't understand the argument. You can't just post a map and say it's stupid and "the U.S. is the military of the world".

 

[harmonica]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. Too ever think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

And that's why so many people hate the US.

But then China's taking over. Mexico will look like Germany, Chinese bases all over the northern part.

they hate us??

 

[Mushroom]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. To even think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

Wow, nice little piece of propaganda with little real information in it.

Now, as the saying goes, "the rest of the story".

Yes, we do indeed have 37 "military bases" in Germany. But during the Cold War, we had 220 in West Germany alone. That is a significant reduction. And many of the 37 left today are really spread out single bases really.

Like the 3 at Ansbach. One of them is actually the base housing area, it is currently home to an Aviation Brigade, which is scheduled to be closed within 5 years.

Another is Edelweiss. A recreation facility in the Alps that provides recreation to all NATO personnel.

About half of the remaining "bases" are really NATO joint forces training bases, such as Grafenwohr. This base has such important military functions, such as the home of AFN Bavaria. For those civilians, this is the organization that provides civilian type radio and television services for US servicemembers and their families.

Another 6 in and around Stuttgart. Of course, that includes such important posts as the Hospital, more civilian housing areas, and a major joint command facility used by both the US and NATO.

In total, we have around 35,000 personnel in Germany. That is less than half the number of personnel we have in Washington State.

And your claim that "Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in" is highly inaccurate. The vast majority of them predate WWII, and many even predate WWI. These were German military bases, that were occupied either during the war, or afterwards as part of the de-nazification process. Over the decades they were of course rebuilt, but this was done by the US.

Obviously you do not seem to understand how a SOFA works.

Even our headquarters in Germany from 1945 until 1995 was built by the Germans prior to WWII, but used because the building worked for the needs. The IG Farben Building was the largest office building in Europe, and there was no question that it was going to be the home of the US Command in a post-war Germany.

And even to this day, the building has a bad reputation. But not because of the US military.

Once the headquarters for IG Farben, that was the largest chemical company in Germany. And it worked closely with the Hitler government. They were the main contractor for the construction of Auschwitz, as well as slave labor from Auschwitz for making synthetic rubber. IG Farben was also the company that invented and made Zyklon B, which of course was used at Auschwitz.

After the war, the company was split up by the German Government into smaller companies. Today we know of them as Agfa, BASF, and Bayer.

And we never leave? Apparently you missed the news, when we moved an entire armored division back to the US from Germany over a decade ago. After spending roughly $5 billion+ in order to build a new base for them to return to in the first place.

Their former home of Fort Hood no longer had the facilities for them to come home to, having been repurposed many times over the years.

Even if for some strange reason we decided to "bring them all home" and close every single military facility in Germany, it would take around 10-15 years to do so. We simply lack the bases inside the US to bring them home to. The large number of BRACs we had in the 1990's have pretty much eliminated any kind of overflow facilities we once had.

 

[Penelope]

Obviously you know more about the bases in Germany than I do, since it sound like you have been there and use to live there.

I am talking all bases around the globe, we would never be without military men all over and also in Germany, the EU, Qatar, Afghanistan, S.K, etc. ; we are all over not just to protect Europe from Russia, but we would be there anyway, regardless if we collected one red cent from the nations.

I am not only saying bring them home, but discharge them, it will never happen. We depend on the military for money and protection. We are Rome (or if you prefer Britain), an Empire and we do it with the military. Trump is blowing smoke.

Also the plan was to spend 2% by 2024, and only because of 911.

Germany is developing PESCO , and that is one reason I doubt Brexit will really happen, all 65 million of them would never survive on their own. I figure they will work out some sort of deal, like being a colony of the EU.

Without the MIC and the military we'd be broke.
The 25 Biggest Defense Companies In America

 

[bodecea]

Seems like the US wants its cake as well.

We want bases all over the globe and want them to pay us for them. The Potus thinks Nato countries owe us.

End Nato, bring all troops home, no more US bases overseas.

And then what?

The US loses its global power, China takes over.

That's exactly what trump wants.

 

[Mushroom]

I am talking all bases around the globe, we would never be without military men all over and also in Germany, the EU, Qatar, Afghanistan, S.K, etc. ; we are all over not just to protect Europe from Russia, but we would be there anyway, regardless if we collected one red cent from the nations.

Interesting that you mention Qatar. Are you even aware of the history of the US military there?

Back in 1990, Qatar, UAE, and many other Gulf region nations got a huge shock after Iraq took out and annexed Kuwait in under a week. They realized that there was no way they could protect themselves against their larger neighbors in the event they decided to attack. And Qatar came up with a rather interesting solution.

In 1996, they built Al Udeid Air Force Base. At a cost of over $1.5 billion. And it is a massive base, with some of the largest and longest runways in the Middle East. It rivaled even the facilities of King Khalid Air Base and King Khalid Military City in Saudi Arabia.


All for a country that has a total of 15 fighters and 12 transport aircraft. Who's entire military composes of less than 36,000 personnel.

No, we called it the "Field of Dreams" base. As in "If you build it, they will come". They spent a lot of money to build a massive air base, and pretty much immediately asked the US military to step in and occupy it. And of course that is what they have done.

And there is another side effect of doing this. Because Qatar is a peninsula off of Saudi Arabia, they have been their biggest threat. And the entire border between the two nations used to be a heavily armed area, with guard towers, land mines, and row after row of barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles.

And since 2001, that border has largely become demilitarized. The last time I was there, we were using a rifle range that literally was overlooking the border itself, a few hundred meters from SA. The towers were long abandoned, we had to get out of our vehicles and walk 200 meters to the range (formerly a fortified machine gun position) because sand dunes had blown in and blocked the road.

All because they knew that there was no way that Saudi Arabia would ever attack them if the US had military personnel there.

And the cost to the US? Well, nothing really. We have around 15,000 people stationed there (and another 2-3,000 at any given time as it is the main hub to and from the ME). The Qatari government provides all food, fuel, water, and their own security at their own cost. And because the base is still "theirs", if any new buildings are needed, they build and pay for them.

And they pay the US around $750 million a year in addition to that. It is also the home for our Pre-position Storage in the region, where a number of tanks, artillery, and other equipment is maintained and stored for future use.

Oh, and it is the same at Camp As Sayliyah, the former home of the Qatari Army. They built and moved to a new location, and turned over that location to the US Army (with the agreement that there always be PATRIOT missiles there to protect the capitol of Doha). CAS actually predates "The Deid", having been in place since 2000.

And it is also the home of the militaries from several other countries. British Royal Air Force, French Air Force, pretty much every member of NATO has operated out of it at one point or another.

Oh, and the Aussies. They even have their own encampment there, with their own bar.

South Korea, Qatar, Japan, UAE, Bahrain, we are in those and many other countries because we are wanted there. Each of those countries learned either long ago or after 1990 that the US is a good "big brother" to court. And believe it or not, we also have a pretty solid reputation for leaving when asked.

When we were asked to leave Saudi Arabia, we left. When Kuwait asked us to reduce our presence in their country, we did so (closing over 20 facilities, with only 5 remaining). And the ones left they want us at. Primarily Ali Al Salem Air Base, their version of Al Udeid. The home of their Air Force, they do not want the US to leave that base, even though they moved their main embarkation and debarkation port from there to AL Udeid.

Ironically, whenever people go on about the "American Empire" as you have, it is with a very warped view. The US actually has a rather solid reputation of leaving when a country asks. The Philippines, large numbers of bases in countries like Japan and Germany. Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, when asked to leave we simply leave.

In fact, the only exception I can think of is Cuba. But that is because we have a long term lease on the place. I think it is still open for three reasons. First, is to spite the Castro regime. Secondly, it is a good location for picking up intelligence. And finally, because it really is our only military base in the region that protects a large area. Which BTW includes the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. If we were to close it, we would simply have to rebuild a similar facility somewhere else in the region.

But hey, continue with your propaganda all you want. Just do not expect me to believe it, or to stop correcting you.

 

[Mushroom]

I am not only saying bring them home, but discharge them, it will never happen.

And yea, ultimately this is what I am taking from your post.

In other words, fire them. You literally want to bring back roughly 1.2 million people, and fire them.

End their careers, and really after that fire another 2 million or so stateside, because that would of course follow since our people overseas generally work on 3 year cycles on average. No need for those who just came back, or for those who would be going again next.

Tell you what, what are you going to do with that now 3 million plus unemployed? Oh wait, did I say 3 million? Better double that at least, to 6 million. That would of course have to include all the reductions in the civilian side as well.

And as somebody that has been RIFed 2 times, it is not a good feeling. To have from 10-15 years in a career and be a short time from being eligible for retirement, only to be tossed out because they have to "reduce the numbers". But hey, live your fantasy. And explain how laying off around 6 million people is a good thing.

 

[dave p]

United States military deployments - Wikipedia
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See if we have an issue with a country we are there to put them in line. Too ever think we will bring our military home is stupid. We are the military of the world. Most of these bases were build after WWII by the countries they are in.

We own the world, and even if they didn't pay a red cent we would not leave.

And that's why so many people hate the US.

But then China's taking over. Mexico will look like Germany, Chinese bases all over the northern part.

Where do you come up with this crap?

 

[dave p]

Seems like the US wants its cake as well.

We want bases all over the globe and want them to pay us for them. The Potus thinks Nato countries owe us.

End Nato, bring all troops home, no more US bases overseas.

They do owe us.