The Administration needs to admit it....this country simply can't AFFORD foreign wars anymore

[Ken Burch]

We can afford to defend our own territory from attack from outside. That's ALL we can afford. And that's more than enough to protect our security.

We can't afford to have our troops anywhere else anymore. Or our ships. Or our planes.

The Cold War is over. The "War on Terror" isn't winnable by military means. NATO is useless and so are all of the old "alliances".

The only way to end the deficits, and to have the resources to solve our own problems, is to do what George McGovern was crushed for calling for, almost forty years ago:

COME HOME, AMERICA!

[Poll_Blind]

1. I agree, I think there are a lot of non-NeoCon conservatives who would agree as well. We've just...

...spent ourselves into the largest hole on Earth. The only way, I mean the only serious way that anyone is thoughtfully promoting the idea is if they're under the impression that our failing empire can somehow regrasp all those things which we once controlled, or at least held hostage.

It's not going to happen. Empires are known for ignoring the obvious and continuing to put good money/resources after bad until a spectacular collapse occurs but one would imagine with so many foreign hands holding our debt that they (seriously) will stop us from going down that road.

It's over.

Or, one could look at it as a new beginning. Peak Oil, Peak Phosphorous, Peak Whatnot, we have to radically redesign America to be competitive in a future we are blithely ignoring. And it's bearing down on us like a Mack Truck.

PB

[Lasher]

2. Now there's a step in the right direction.

Bring them all home now. Close all US military bases on foreign soil!

[Ken Burch]

3. Indeed. Most of those countries don't want our troops there, anyway.

Don't believe me? Visit Okinawa sometime.

[Lasher]

15. Lots of the people living in Okinawa don't want us there.

But most Japanese do.

[Ken Burch]

19. That also has a lot to do with the fact that Okinawa never wanted to be

a Japanese colony. Why should we be protecting anybody ELSE's empire?(And why should we still be acting like we need one of our own?)

[Lasher]

20. I did not know that, thanks for the education.

I think most of the time things are made to be much more complicated than they need to be. We just need to get our military out of every single foreign base, right now. And we need to cut our military budget at least in half, right now. But we're doing the exact opposite and all the rest is bullshit.

[gkhouston]

4. Something else we can't afford: tax breaks for the rich. n/t

[Ken Burch]

5. Double True Dat.

n/t.

[old mark]

6. K&R- Remember the "peace dividend"? That concept didn't last very long.

It would be great if we stopped trying to run the world...especially since we have historically done such a shitty job of it.

Bring everybody home, sell off most of our military shit, have a much better country all around...Oh, yeah, and tax the rich.

And Mr. Obama-Scrap the fucking Patriot Act fascism.

mark

[ThomCat]

7. We never could afford wars.

We borrowed every single dollar for both wars. It is all unpaid debt we are going to be paying back interest on for generations to come. It was all an unnecessary waste; of money, of lives, of resources, of time, of priorities... :(

[Truth2Tell]

8. America needs to admit it. K&R nt

[dreamnightwind]

9. Yes

This sentiment is getting some traction finally. We need to push this meme, hard. Thanks for the OP.

[xchrom]

10. first step -- admit you have a problem. bring 'em home. nt

[Mnemosyne]

11. Agreed, but these are actually occupations, not wars. K&R n/t

[Ken Burch]

21. OK...then make it "foreign wars AND foreign occupations".

n/t.

[Mnemosyne]

22. I can accept that, thanks. n/t

:kick:

[BeFree]

12. Send them a bill

America is the world's police. I say if we are going to be on duty the world needs to pay a fair wage.

No more welfare for the world. If Japan needs us to protect them from China, Japan needs to pay.

If the world won't pay, then we come home.

[Jkid]

13. The reason why the country is still doing foreign wars is because to the contractors

It's profitable. The more they stay, the more money they make.

[Enthusiast]

14. You are anti-American!

Srsly. :rofl:

[L. Coyote]

16. I remember say this very emphatically in 1966.

Too bad for me the President of the local John Birch Society was the speech contest judge :rofl:

[Tsiyu]

17. The sad thing is, we are there for the oil

So that every one of us can drive relatively "cheaply" and get our goods delivered cheaply...

I want us out, you want us out, and our budget demands we get out, but the oil companies are not going to let us get out. We, the taxpayer, are supporting the oil companies, who pay us back very little in taxes off the profits they are making.

WE pay the soldiers to defend the oil that the oil companies turn around and sell us at highly inflated prices. But Exxon et al can't afford to help support those troops - even as they make billions exploiting our military - no, no, no taxes for Exxon! "Poor" oil companies milk the government tit and all we get is higher prices. It's a win-win for greed.

And let's not start on the mercenaries and Halliburton type contractors who have made bank selling inferior goods and services at bloated prices to the Military with their no-bid contracts. You think they're gonna give up that cash cow?


The Military Profiteers and oil companies own us; they set our war policy.

[area51]

18. +1

Perpetual wars have bankrupted this country, and the Chinese govt. owns us. We can stop the two wars of choice, bring the soldiers home, offer them jobs in rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure and training in the medical professions (shortage of doctors and nurses), and have a win-win situation.