[Grovenet] The Iraqi View

[Steele, Mike]

Add to the mix...the US has over 700 bases worldwide.  So, quite a bit
of presence in places well beyond our immediate borders.

--Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of Jeff Cooper
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 9:44 AM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] The Iraqi View


In case you haven't noticed Ron, we're *still* in Japan and Germany...
over 60 years after the end of WWII!  Not to mention South Korea,
Serbia, and you tell me where else we are.  Personally, I chalk it up to
U.S. Imperialism, and not a need to keep an occupied country safe and
secure.  

That being said, I am also probably one of the few Berkeley hippies left
on the planet who thinks that we *shouldn't* pull out of Iraq
unless/until we can have reasonable certainty that a massive civil war
won't ensue upon our departure.  Yeah, yeah, I've read the arguments
about how we're exacerbating the problem by remaining in Iraq, but I
don't buy the fact that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis (on top of those
already killed) will occur when/if we leave.  The major difference
between Iraq and Japan/Germany is the (mostly) homogeneous nature of the
latter two countries.  Neither Japan nor Germany will perform ethnic
cleansing when/if we leave.  Serbia is another story, and much more
recent history.

No, if we are to truly start demilitarizing, then we should start with
Japan and Germany (seems safe to leave both of those countries, don't
you agree?).  South Korea *may* be the next on the list, assuming we
could get reasonable assurances from North Korea that they won't cross
the border (and yes, perhaps the word "reasonable" is an oxymoron when
dealing with their dictator, though recent news indicates that he's
actually backing down a bit).  

However, I really don't see our military-industrial complex backing out
of *anywhere*.  Perhaps when/if the Dems take back the White House we
can start moving in this direction of anti-imperialism, but I'm not
going to hold my breath.  

Regards,

Jeff Cooper
 
       
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