posted on Oct, 14 2005 @ 02:57 AM
Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
Souljah, you keep missing the point of the US Military presence for +20 years in your posts.
Thank You! When I made the original assertion about that, I thought I was pretty specific in saying 20 years, not 2 years, then proceeded to get
attacked on Iraq and Afganistan by the usual suspects when I really wasn't intending to discuss them at all.
I stand by my original assertion. Anywhere that the US military has been for
at least 20 years or more is a relatively peaceful and stable
place unless the occupants started to mess it up once the US left.
The entire point of my assertion which I never really got to was that Western Civilization can only be absorbed through osmosis. This means proximity.
In the past, we could be fairly certain that our military personel were some of the best and brightest we had to offer. IMO, these folks have usually
provided a good example for the benefits of living in a Western style nation.
Someone also scoffed at my statement that the major US export is "Security". How is it not? We certainly export more military aid and power than
goods and services. When was the last time that any nation attacked another nation while a US Military base was there? You pretty much have to go back
to Vietnam.
Yes, our prime export is security. We, yes we, kept Europe secure during the cold war. Europe (at least the part of it not conquered by Hitler) was
losing WWII until we exported our Security expertise there. Japan had pretty much dominated Asia, including China, until we exported our Security
expertise there. The rebuilding is also part of the Security. The rest of the world is pretty safe from Germany and Japan these days, don't you
think?
Once again, I never said that this situation was preferable, right, or fair. I know many would prefer to shoot the messanger, but I'm just pointing
this stuff out. Since some of you (Souljah) didn't bother to actually read my post fully and didn't actually address the points I was making, I had
pretty much given up on this thread. I still pretty much have but I was glad someone noticed what I was really getting at.