The Duck wonders who will replace the European bases.
The truth is NATO has served its purpose and no longer serves any purpose. Europeans need to pay for their own defense. Who the enemy anyway Russia?? China?? Islamic Radicals??? The US should maintain individual treaties with reliable allies when appropriate with countries such as Poland, Italy or the UK. The treaties should be voidable by both sides so if a country were to elect a Livingstone type the USA need not be burdened by bombastic demagoguery.
European social safety nets were created on the backs of the US tax payer. The Europeans can pay for their own defense from whatever imaginary foe they face. The truth is that even within Islam people are starting to complain about pointless bloodshed. The mindless bombings in Iraq enraged the locals who turned on Al Queda. Pointless death with no results serves no purpose other than giving Islam a bad name.
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NATO has served its purpose and no longer serves any purpose. Europeans need to pay for their own defense.
Europeans are always turning up their noses at America, then wanting us to look out for their interests.
We need to look out for OUR OWN interests and give American taxpayers relief.
AMEN, AOW!
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!
tmw
One reason that NATO is very unlikely to ever be repealed is simply there is too much money wrapped in it. You are talking probably in the billions, maybe even the tens of billions of dollars annually that is passed back and forth between contractors and agencies and overseers. It has always been a boondoggle, but at least at one point it was a boondoggle with a legitimate purpose. Now it's just a boondoggle period, a way to feed at the public trough of the American taxpayer.
On top of that, not only does a great deal of that money go to European interests, but at the same time we are actually subsidizing our nation's business competitors. We are actually paying them to compete with us, and take both jobs and business away from us.
It's insane, and it should end and end now, but it will take a massive uprising of US citizens to accomplish that. That means it will probably never be done, because way too many people devote their time and energy to issues that aren't half as important. That of course is the people that care about any issues at all.
THe USAF seriously scaled back its operations in the UK after the fall of the Iron Curtain.. Upper Heyford (F-111s), Alconbury (Recce aircraft) Bentwaters/Woodbridge (A-10s) and a host of satellite bases all closed. The USN shut its sub base at Holy Loch in Scotland also closed.
The only bases in regular use are Lakenheath and Mildenhall, with Fairford as a back up for bombers.
Don't undo NATO completely. Having once been concerned with the logistics of maintaining the OpTempo of a single CVBG operating at full combat capacity, I'd hate to think of what it would require without a large number of strategic ports located throughout the greater Med & world.
We don't need NATO for that. All we have to do is have two or three good mutual defense treaties-bilateral defense treaties.
Groups like NATO are governments and laws unto themselves. The larger and more inclusive they are, the larger the bureaucracy necessary to run them.
One or two is plenty for Europe, three at the most. That would be more than sufficient for us to have a few bases, if that is really necessary. We could have a similar number in the Middle East and the far East. As long as they are all by way of separate bi-lateral treaties, they can be kept in bounds.
We should start asking Europe if they'd like to be annexed as a part of the United States.
Can I have PARIS and MUNICH, Beamish?
AOW:
We need to look out for OUR OWN interests and give American taxpayers relief.
That's the mantra of the Constitution Party, word for word.
But I need to comment on European bases. There was a time when their presence was much needed. Beak is right; NATO's purpose is finished. The Cold War is over. It's time to bring all of our troops back home and especially get them out of the Balkans. If only we had allowed the Serbs to finish the job of getting rid of Islamofascism...and to think that Clinton actually fostered and bred Islamofascism in Eastern Europe by flying in Muhajideen via C17 and C141 aircraft.
Be sad to see you go.
Got my turkey from a base a couple of years.
Watched as the flag was lowered and everyone stood silent.
There is a gulf forming between Britain and America and I guess Europe as well.
The Polis do their business but we don't get the personal contact much.
We in the old world are feeling the pinch.
Our wretched leaders have pulled the wool over our eyes and sold out to the highest bidder.
Americans are great, American politicians and Ducky suck!
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