The Military

The U.S. government has over 200,000 military personnel stationed on over 750 bases in more than 75 countries. This is a drain on the American economy and is a subsidy to our global competition. This does not include those in Iraq, Afghanistan or related theatres of operations.

When we include such items as military pensions, the Veterans Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the C.I.A, Department of Homeland Security and other related items the budget to defend the United States comes to over $3,000 for every man, woman and child in our country.

Since the end of World War II the American taxpayers have helped protect the nations of Western Europe from a possible attack from the Soviet Union but the Soviet Union is no more and the Cold War has ended. But now that the nations of Western Europe are back on their feet the transfer continues and is detrimental to the American worker who is competing in a world market.

We have 53,000 troops in Germany, 50,000 in Japan and 28,000 in Korea. Each of these countries spend about one-fourth what the U.S. does on defense for each man, woman, and child. From each of these countries Americans buy cars, electronic gadgets, steel and other products from companies that compete against American workers

We maintain roughly 9,000 troops in England.  Who are we protecting the English from?  Do they expect the Normans to come across the Channel again?  The last time they did was 1066. 

Then there is Italy where we have roughly 9,000 troops.  Italians spend about $600 each for defense.

The deployment of U.S. troops abroad could be like a tripwire where a misunderstanding drags us into war as almost happened in 1983 with the Able Archer military games in Europe.

 

Approximately 48% of the world’s military spending is from the U.S. Estimates place the cost of our defending other nations at one-fourth our national defense budget, at least $250 billion annually, or almost $750 for each American citizen.  This is more than the nations where we have troops stationed pay to defend themselves!
           

The political leadership in America has failed to explain the costs of this deployment to the taxpayers, nor do we have an understanding of the consequences of this long-term commitment.  

Is it wise for these foreign nations to depend on the U.S. for this commitment?

What will happen should the U.S. have to withdraw from these commitments due to crisis elsewhere that is of a military nature, or a financial one in America?

Some sources estimate the U.S. has used the military to intervene in the affairs of other nations over 100 times since 1900. That does not include WWI & WWII

Major General Smedley D. Butler USMC, retired, now deceased and twice a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor had this to say about war:

“WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”

 

When was the last time your Senator or Congress person explained how much it costs to keep our troops overseas? Call them and ask!

It makes no more sense to pay the defense bills of those we compete with in this global economy than it does to pay the electric bill of your neighbor.

Draft/mhw  579 words