Duey's Corner - The First Conversation (By Dave Warner)

This is a hybrid version of an Argument paper I wrote for my English class last fall semester in Florida.  It was written around the time Ron Paul was rising in the polls, right before he received negative ‘press’ from the media.  The paper is for withdrawing all of our military Armed Forces from foreign bases and how it can benefit and improve our economy and the country in general. Enjoy.

Withdrawing our military forces worldwide and bringing them home can be beneficial to the United States.

       The United States has the biggest military in the world, having 865 military bases in more then 40 different countries throughout the world.  Our government is currently spending billions per month in three active “conflicts” each involving separate countries and other minor disputes around the globe. For the year 2010 Congress passed an over $680 billion dollar military defense budget through the House of Representatives without a second thought on how that vast amount of money could be used in better ways. Not a single cent of that money will go towards the hard working Americans that make the defense budget possible. No other country around the world currently, or in past history, has achieved the military might and budget that the United States maintains today. More people throughout the United States and the world are coming to realize these types of polices cannot last much longer. Our country and the world are currently struggling through a bad economic recession, which started in 2008 and has no foreseeable end in sight. Many Americans are asking ‘what can our country do different’? and ‘how can we make our economy better and lower the overall debt’?  It’s simple, withdraw our troops from all of our military bases around the world and bring them home. By withdrawing our troops from every base and country around the world we can; save American and civilian lives; stop providing American money and manpower to defend the United Nations; keep our country and citizens safe from more conflicts as a result of our deployed troops and lastly, put that money towards good use within our countries’ borders for the benefit of our citizens and economy.

       One of the most prevalent and deadly tactics “terrorists” use against coalition forces is the suicide bomber; a man/women who straps a vest with explosives or rides in a vehicle with explosives and detonates it with the intent on killing themselves and others.  In their book, Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Terrorism and How to Stop it authors Robert A. Pape and James K. Feldman explain that suicide bombers haven’t been around as long as people think, and the general assumption that there are scores of fighters willing to sacrifice their life for their cause is false (Pape and Feldman 81). Jason Kelly stated in an article in the Chicago Journal that, “until the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there (has) never been a suicide terrorist attack in the country.” Our militaries occupation in countries around the world is a direct cause of the wounded and dead in our military branches. We cannot talk about the wars our country is current fighting in and not mention the innocent civilians that have been lost as a result.  In their article, in the New York Times, Sabrina Tavernise and Andrew W. Lehren state that there was an estimated 100,000 innocent lives lost in Iraq between 2004-2009. They mention that in the city of Fallujah during the 2004 “push” none of the Iraqis killed were categorized as civilians. Our military occupies countries under the banner of “democracy” and “freedom” in order to end tyrannical rulers and allow the people to live in a peaceful country yet hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians die due to their occupation, the very people they were sent there to help protect! 

       The United Nations is the world’s sole organization of powerful countries from around the world, their purpose is to maintain peace and settle disagreements without military intervention and also promote progressive and fair economic policies. As the only Super Power in the world, our country has a responsibility to lend a helping hand to nations in need. That was the idea when the United Nations was started and supported by the United States shortly after World War II. However, due to the devastating effects of the Second World War on the major European nations, they could not provide adequate defense over their own countries and their allies. The United States stepped in to provide protection from the threat of Communist Russia. This eventually led us to the point we are at now. Hundreds of thousands of our military men and women are sitting in bases around the world idly. We have three active conflicts [when this paper was written] with American and civilians wounded and killed everyday. The countries of Germany, Japan and South Korea depend on our military forces to defend their county. Germany and Japan lost their privileges to hold a national military force after World War II as part of the peace treaty that ended the war. Over sixty-five years our country has protected Germany, Japan, South Korea and Israel from foreign threats while they spend money on their economy and other domestic needs. What do we, as a country, have to show for all of this effort? Very little with a multi-trillion dollar national deficit, failing national credit ratings, failing banks, and a failing economy we cannot afford to maintain this military standard around the world.  No country in history has ever been able to maintain a massive military force spread throughout the world for very long without dire effects on their security and economy.

       One very real and potentially dangerous problem brought about from our bloated hegemonic military presence around the world is Iran and its mission of obtaining nuclear power/weapons. There is a very logical reason for Iran to want nuclear power and eventually weaponize it, and that is for its security. Countries with nuclear weapons do not go to war with each other. Iran sits on very big and profitable reserves of oil and other natural resources. The United States with the help of the U. N. wants these resources. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, however, the U.N. and U.S. will not be able to obtain those resources using the same methods as Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan because it could possible start a nuclear war.

       In this map the white stars represent all the active United States military bases that are currently around Iran. Put yourself in the shows of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president. With the long list of occupied countries and conflicts in the Middle East region by the United States what other choice does he have?  If war broke out between Iran and the United States, Iran would surely lose.  If, however, Iran obtained nuclear weapons no major war would break out for fear of those weapons being used. In the days of the Cold War, this type of tactic is called MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). It means that if you have nuclear weapons, then I have a comparable amount that we can use to mutually destroy each other when and if the time comes that nuclear weapons need to be used. This is a prime example of why our military forces need to be brought home.  Our presence in countries (whether we are actively fighting or are simply occupying) causes there to be more conflict between our country and others. If we bring our troops home and stop interfering in other countries affairs our country will benefit because less wars would be fought.

       When we served in the Marine Corps most of us were stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in the city of Jacksonville (or in your respected units base).  According to Lindell Kay’s Forbes article, Jacksonville, NC was rated the number one city for jobs and economic stability during this recession. The majority of the population of Jacksonville is military members and their families because of the military bases that surrounded the city. The only reason why Jacksonville was given this rating was because of the thousands of military personnel and their family’s living and spending money there, just imagine the economic boost if all of our troops overseas were brought home. We would not need the massive military force we have now if we withdrew our troops, which makes millions of workers available to work. Our economy would not be fixed overnight from this recession just because we brought our troops home. It would take a couple of years to stabilize unemployment and the economy but in the long run our country would reap the rewards. Also, the billions spent on our defense budget could be put towards other projects that will benefit Americans more directly; our dilapidated highways and schools are two good examples. In his book, The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, author Nick Turse states that we could clear $2.6 billion if we would sell our base assets at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and earn another $2.2 billion if we did the same with Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. Closing just two bases would save us $4.8 billion dollars.  Imagine if we closed all of our military bases around the world. It would save trillions. If our country uses the money and manpower that funds our obtuse military into public works and the national debt we would benefit greatly.

       The United States of America is a force to be reckoned with on both the military and economic side of the spectrum. We spend billions of taxpayer’s money a month on three separate wars without any positive results for American citizens. Unless you think a defaulting economic system and American flag draped coffins are signs of success then you know this path our country is currently on is not sustainable.  It is time for us to take the high road as a country and a people to cease all these wars.  How do you think our country looks to others? We bully countries around, forcing them to commit to policies that will benefit us at the expense of others. It is a blatant abuse of power. We should be using our position as the only Super Power in the world for good, not endless war and evil. Our government was founded by free men, for free men; they gave the voice of power to the people so that they can decide what the government will do for them not what the people will do for the government. It is up to the masses to let their voices be heard. The only way this country can change is through the people and their power at the voting booths. Our country has been running around the world causing unchecked havoc for years. We have wasted billions on wars throughout the world, countless thousands of American, Coalition allies and, innocent civilian lives lost, and exorbitant amounts of destruction to economies and countries around the world. Our country’s economic situation is not hopeless, and in this case, the grass is greener on the other side. History has shown us that war is never the answer and more problems are caused through wars then are solved. It is time we start paying attention to the policies our government has in place for our military and act accordingly because there will come a time when our wasteful spending cripples our country for good.

~ How can you change political policy on the international scale?  It’s easy.  Using a local VFW post, your college/university student veterans organization or even local activist groups. All of these groups and organizations have a similar ‘brotherhood’ atmosphere. It sounds hypocritical to join Veterans for Peace or Veterans Against the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars organizations having served in those wars and fought and honestly, had some really funny/good moments along with the bad moments.  Regardless of that, those experiences changed you and if you feel that the ‘conflicts’ that this country is fighting in are not worth the loss of life and economic resources there is no reasons why you can’t actively (and maturely) oppose it.  If any one is interested in information on local Veterans Organizations or on the G.I. Bill/V.A. stuff let me know, I’d be more then welcome to provide information and at the least point you in the right direction.  Hope you enjoyed the post, kudos to both Jacob Coy and Walter  for their awesome posts, if you haven’t checked then out you should.  

                                                                      -Dave W.

Works Citied

Kay, Lindell. “Forbes Magazine names Jacksonville No. 1.” JD News. N.p. 22 Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.

Kelly, Jason. “Suicidal Tendencies.” Chicago Journal, 2010.  Gale Opposing Viewpoints. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.

Lehren, Andrew W., and Sabrina Tavernise. "Buffeted by Fury and Chaos, Civilians Paid Heaviest Toll." New York Times 23 Oct. 2010: A1(L). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.

Pape, Robert A., James K. Feldman. Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop it. Chicago; U of Chicago, 2010. Print.

Turse, Nick. The Complex: How the Military Invades our Everyday Lives. New York, NY. Metropolitan Books. 2008. Print.

“U.S. Military Bases around Iran.”  Map. Google Maps. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.