DescentBB

Germany!

Here is a smart question, why do we have troops in Germany? I forget how many, but I know we have a few soldiers still there, for six decades after the war. We also have soldiers still in South Korea and Japan. To send these soldiers over there, it costs over $100,000 dollars for each soldier. Imagine where this could be spent besides keeping soldiers in a country we aren't even fighting or occupying for safety! Could be spent on this war, could go to other things, but it is still a waste of money to keep them there for no reason at all...

North Korea is kinda dangerous, which is probably why we have soldiers in South Korea and Japan. But yeah, they're all over the place in Europe and other areas that seem... kinda... pointless to occupy.

Interesting thought.

I'm sure that NATO and/or the UN have an \"opinion\" on it.

We have troops in South Korea because the Korean War never actually ended (the cease-fire that created the DMZ was just that, not a treaty to end hostilities), and we have troops in Japan because, due to the treaties enacted at the end of WWII, that nation does not have a standing army capable of acting outside its borders (they do, however, have a Self-Defense Force for defense within Japan's borders). I'd assume that the troops stationed in Germany are required to man US military bases there, which are generally very useful in supporting front-line operations halfway around the globe. (For instance, critically wounded soldiers in Iraq can be quickly airlifted to military hospitals in Germany after they're initially stabilized.) With the current status of troop deployment and budgetary needs, I very much doubt that a significant amount of resources is going to any particular region that's seen as \"unnecessary.\"

I'n not an American and therefore not really qualified to comment - but I think you'll find that the presence in Germany provides a geographically advantageous position for Nato. It also seems like the US is currently debating putting a missile defense shield into Europe (which has Putin threatening another cold-war-like arms escallation - for wahtever reason I can't speculate). No doubt the German presence also has something to do with that.

Ah, I totally forgot about NATO. Whoops.