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2004-04-02 Europe

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Posted by tipper 2004-04-02 11:06:10 AM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1728 views since 2007-05-07] Top

1 Damn! Is this guy great, or what?

Posted by Infidel Bob 2004-04-02 11:39:14 AM|| 2004-04-02 11:39:14 AM|| Front Page Top

2 The US has played long-suffering papa to the rest of the civilised world for too long now. There are plenty of nations in Europe, in particular, which would benefit from a dose of reality that would come with the realisation that having America as a nominal 'ally', in reality 'protector', comes at a price, even if that price needs only be respect.

Like human relationships based on grossly imbalanced contributions, European reliance on the US's military muscle has bred a lot of dependents' resentment. Irrational, contemptible and pathetic. You could consider threatening to pull out of weasel countries to be akin to a slap-in-the-face for a hysteric.

Posted by Bulldog 2004-04-02 11:57:10 AM|| 2004-04-02 11:57:10 AM|| Front Page Top

3 Amen, IB!

Thx for realizing it's Friday, tipper, and looking VDH up - I always forget unless it's post in RB. This is a classic, too. Thx!

Our geographical isolation from the children is not quite total - what do we do with Canada? It has a dime-store military, same as say Belgium, because it knows it's covered - and we can't get away from them, yet they have the world's most insane immigration policies and lax enforcement...

What to do, what to do.

Posted by .com 2004-04-02 11:57:11 AM|| 2004-04-02 11:57:11 AM|| Front Page Top

4 I've been thinking that NATO is a dead letter since about '93 so there's little I have a problem with here.

Particularly since I'm not expecting the EU to become a military rival anytime in the near future.

Posted by Hiryu 2004-04-02 12:38:23 PM|| 2004-04-02 12:38:23 PM|| Front Page Top

5 There must be 50 ways to leave Europa.

You could step out the back on Chiraq

Make a new plan in the backasswardstans

No need to be coy with our toys

Just drop off the keys in Greece

Get on the bus and bust

Posted by Lucky 2004-04-02 1:11:24 PM|| 2004-04-02 1:11:24 PM|| Front Page Top

6 NATO has been a walking corpse since the USSR folded. The unbelieveably cynical response on out European "allies" part to the US's invocation of article 5 post-911 simply drove the last nail into the coffin.

Posted by mojo 2004-04-02 1:12:00 PM|| 2004-04-02 1:12:00 PM|| Front Page Top

7 And excellent idea: After WWII, they were definitely too weak after fighting Hitler to defend themselves against a Soviet Union supplied by the United States via Lend-Lease, but things are definitely different now.

They're certainly big enough and rich enough to take care of themselves. Time to move to Warsaw. Yeah, it might not be Paris or Madrid, but they were in no better shape in the late 40's either.

Posted by Ptah 2004-04-02 1:49:37 PM|| [http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2004-04-02 1:49:37 PM|| Front Page Top

8 Time to move to Warsaw.

Um, bad move. Growing anti-Americanism. Nationalist party growing in popularity (think Zhirinovsky-lite). I propose Hungary.

Posted by Rafael 2004-04-02 3:00:37 PM|| 2004-04-02 3:00:37 PM|| Front Page Top

9 We need three or four bases in "Old" Europe - one or two in England (RAF Molesworth, possibly Lakenheath or Mildenhall), one in Germany (Ramstein, primarily for Logistics purposes), and Naples, to support the 6th fleet. We need three or four in the Far East - naval and Air Force bases in Japan, an Army base somewhere where there's enough room to maneuver a full division in war games (which leaves out Japan, Korea, and Taiwan), and Navy and Air Force logistics facilities in Australia. We need to stay in Iraq for as long as it takes - perhaps as long as we've stayed in Germany, Japan, and Korea, maybe even longer. It also looks like we're going to have to develop some counter-terrorism support for nations of Latin America, and may need to establish some logistics support in that area. Someone is also going to have to do something in Africa, and Europe has proven they have their head so far up and locked, they don't even see what's happening in their own country. That, too, will require local support facilities. Everything else should be gradually phased out and shut down. There's no longer a need for it, there's no longer a mission to support, and it's time to stop wasting our time and energy trying to buy friends with our military budget.

Posted by Old Patriot 2004-04-02 3:13:13 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2004-04-02 3:13:13 PM|| Front Page Top

10 Perchance there's a parallel to our departure from Roosevelt Roads after closing Vieques. No reason to stay once the mission changes. Also, it would be helpful to have a few of the dollars currently wasted in Europe to buy a few more low-density, high-demand assets like gunships and COMBAT TALONs. Auf baldiges Wiedersehn!

Posted by RWV 2004-04-02 10:42:08 PM|| 2004-04-02 10:42:08 PM|| Front Page Top

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