No other nation on earth spends nearly as much on military or keeps as much camps around the globe. Are we stuck in a cold war mode, without an enemy in sight? Is our military out of control? The own in house pentagon think tanks have since the seventies pushed for a change in strategy. What good does a US soldier stationed in Germany do since 1989?
2007-03-14 17:23:41 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Our country has treatys & similar agreements w nations all over the world which stipulate we have a "presence" in different locations around the world.
Some of them are defensive, but most are cooperative agreements where we allow other nations to have members of their military in the US for training , schools, etc.
Despite the end of the "cold war" we still have vital interests around the world which bear monitoring. And intelligence gathering is still done by all developed nations. It's just a matter of CYA for the most part......
2007-03-14 17:29:29 · answer #1 · answered by SantaBud 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
No one needs to "imagine" enemies in the world today - I agree there is no cold wars - they are red hot.
Aren't you repeating this question often?
The troops are spanning the globe to make an immediate response possible if a hot spot breaks out. Yes, we call it safety of the US & other countries who can not protect themselves alone. Why not ask the militaryif they are out of control? My son is a US Army Ranger & I bet he has an answer for you. The military has not run out in the last few years & set up bases in these countries. They have been there by invitation. Germany has had bases for decades, it was set up originally to help the UN keep an eye on Germany after the Nazi invasions. Now they have withdrawn some troops & they are there as a frendly base in the region. My Uncle served for 12 years in Germany in the 60s & early 70s.
2007-03-15 00:40:30 · answer #2 · answered by Wolfpacker 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are mostly used a forward operating bases. That's why the USA is the only country in the world that can respond to an international crisis so fast. The pentagon realizes that most bases in Germany are no longer needed and are moving them, soon there will be new bases in Bulgaria from Germany and they are relocating bases in Japan and South Korea also. So yes they are outdated but they are in the process of being moved but it wont happen over night they need to make sure they dont break the local economies in Germany and elsewhere that have depended on US bases for their lively hood. But they are being moved around while some of the troops will be re-assigned to US bases at home we still will have some over-seas. They are also looking into adding bases in Africa.
2007-03-15 00:33:58 · answer #3 · answered by firetdriver_99 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
The simple answer is Force Projection. Our presence abroad makes a statement and also provides support network to more forward deployed forces.
Concerning Germany, the military presence in Germany has slowly dwindled since the end of the Cold War. A quick redeployment would negatively strain the German economy as our communities in Germany put a lot of dollars into it.
2007-03-15 12:02:51 · answer #4 · answered by CPT Jack 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Other countries do have military presenses all over the world. US military does alot of training and humanitary work with other nations. Many of the bases that are over seas are the result of world war 2. Many of these bases are being phased out and taken over by the host nation. Many of these bases are in areas or countries that cannot defend themselves. A perfect example is the first desert storm. The Kuwaitis could not fend of the attack from Iraq due to political and military reasons giving way to the recapturing of Kuwait by UN forces.
2007-03-15 00:32:07 · answer #5 · answered by comomotel 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
The countrys we have bases on are countries that we've either helped or went to war against. We have bases all over the world because it means rapid deployment to anywhere. Germany, Italy, Japan were all the axis powers during WW2 and we have bases on them. We have people on the DMZ seperating the 2 countries of Korea.
2007-03-15 04:20:14 · answer #6 · answered by DewBerry 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Looks like you had your question answered, but here are two things that no one has mentioned yet...
Marines are guards at American Embassies world wide. That accounts for most of the eighty that you claim. Remember, a "military presence" can be only a handful of people.
I don't know how many other countries there are like this, but I know that Iceland has no military, and as fellow members of NATO, the U.S. predominately makes up the Iceland Defense Force.
2007-03-15 00:58:00 · answer #7 · answered by fredonia 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because the last two times that US minded its own business at home, two world wars broke out and we got dragged into both of them. So U.S. learned its lesson and keeps troops around the globe to make sure everyone plays friendly.
2007-03-15 05:13:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of it would be for rapid responce anywhere in the world, also many countries do want our military presence there, saves them a few bucks on thier own , also our troops get steady paychecks which support many many towns and cities throughout the world. Myself, i do think we shoudl pull all the troops out of Europe, since they don't seem to want them there anyways. Allies (that we can rely on) we should keep troops there as long as they want them.
2007-03-15 00:28:43 · answer #9 · answered by lethander_99 4 · 8⤊ 0⤋
You know...you can really pump up that 80 countries number if you count every country in which we have an embassy and its USMC guard. These Marines are considered troops.
2007-03-15 01:57:54 · answer #10 · answered by iraq51 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋