Military Bases

Since WWII, we have stationed our military forces in so many foreign locations that it is very difficult to list them all.  Unfortunately, we have developed a habit of leaving them there.  Would you care to guess how many bases we have on foreign soil?  Don’t feel bad if your guess is off by a factor of 300 or so. 

The best number I could find is 720.  That’s right.  SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY foreign bases and technically, we are not at war.  720 foreign bases to keep the peace.  Can we really expect foreign nations to believe that we are the peaceful ones when they can’t take a walk in the park without encountering our troops?  If anyone considers for a moment that this is a good idea and is needed to maintain the peace, I would ask the following question – “How is it working out so far?”

It is difficult to believe that the need for 700 foreign bases is worthy of debate, so let’s proceed directly to the remedy.  Begin to close a large number of them.  There are basically two ways to do this.

No. 1

Have the President state that certain bases will be closed within one year.  History tells us that, if the President does this, about eleven months from now he will receive a 400 page report detailing the many reasons that the bases can not be closed.  Remember Gitmo?  As an important part of his program, Obama promised to close Gitmo in one year.  Unfortunately, this President, this Congress and this Military could not figure out how to close ONE base.

No. 2

Have the President tell the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, “I want 100 bases closed in the next six months and ten per month after that until I tell you to stop.  By the way, if you can’t do it, I will fire both of you and replace you with someone who can follow orders.  Do you understand or do you resign right now?”  Now, what are the odds that some bases will get closed? 

If anyone argues that we actually need all of these bases, fire the S.O.B.  What can you possibly accomplish with 700 bases that you could not accomplish with 300 or 400?

If Congress wants to get involved and debate the issue until the next election, a leader may point out the following:

A.      Closing bases should save money. 

B.      Many of our troops will be moved out of harms way

C.      We could save money.

D.     Make our troops available for the “good wars”.  We often read about our troops being sent back to the Middle East for a second, third or fourth tour.  Meanwhile, other troops are sitting on an island in the South Pacific or in South Korea. 

E.      We could save money.

F.       If our troops are good enough to guard South Korea against the fearsome loons of North Korea, maybe they can do us some real good by guarding our southern border.  All we have to do is decide which place is more important to us, South Korea or Arizona?

G.     Did I mention, we could save money?

Perhaps, when we stop posing as the world’s police force, people will stop viewing us as their  police force.  Perhaps they will fight their little wars quietly and we can get back to watching important stuff on TV like news about how Charly Sheen is doing in rehab.

Seriously, it may be time for us to consider whether our presence has started more wars than it prevented.  George Bush Senior tried to teach us the right way to fight a war.  Properly planned and properly fought, his war lasted about 100 hours and we suffered fewer casualties than the Chicago Bears did the last time they played Green Bay. 

There was a time when we understood that being at war was a diversion and not a career.

We have reached the point where closing bases is as much a state of mind as it is a chore.  President Franklin Roosevelt, as enamored as he was with his position, never deluded himself to believing that he knew more than anybody about everything.  He knew that WWII was much too important to be left to an amateur like himself so he placed full confidence General George C. Marshall and, even sitting in his wheelchair, Roosevelt was a big enough man to admit that he slept much better knowing the Marshall was in Washington with him.

Many historians are surprised and disappointed when they are forced to admit that military men elected to the White House consistently perform above expectations while non-military types are consistent disappointments.  It has been (and is being) suggested that this anomaly may be credited to the fact that a true military person MUST MAKE DECISIONS and live with the consequences, while true politicians MUST MAKE PROMISES and move on before the bill comes due.  This leads to the ever-popular, ‘blame Mike Brown’ school of political management.  The world will little note nor long remember who was mayor of New Orleans or governor of Louisiana when Katrina hit their woefully unprepared Big Easy, but everyone remembers the scapegoat.  Point noted.

Back to our military base situation: Over 700 foreign bases.  This is a silly problem for a nation that is beyond being broke, sailing past insolvency and fast approaching bankruptcy.  It is time for someone to step up and make a decision.  Blaming the previous administrations for all of our problems may actually have some truth to it.  But, the people who sat in Congress and watched it happen should remember that, someday, they will be ‘the previous administration’ and will be expected to bear some responsibility. Base closing would seem to be something that many people would want to be blamed for.  Even Harry Truman knew when a plug needed to be pulled, and he pulled it.  Bless him, not necessarily for pulling that particular plug, but for being a stand-up guy.

Now, let’s close some bases.