Imagine by Ron Paul | Texas Straight Talk Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.” Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence. Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror. Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office. The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us. According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States. Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted. ********************************************************** Reality check. I never thought of it that way. I've never seen foreign soldiers on American soil. I cannot even wrap my head around how terrifying that would be.
it's just too bad barry approves of the long standing cia practice of kidnapping people to hold them for torture and questioning in foreign countries.
He's not closing Bagram in Afghanistan. Also, Obama is not closing Gitmo until he actually closes it. I honestly do not think he will.
What happenned to the argument made by the Bush/Cheney administration that it's better to fight them over there than on our own soil? I think it would have been cheaper to defend our own borders and protect our citizens here than abroad. But then private contractors may not have had the free hand here that they have enjoyed abroad.
Actually, speaking as a Navy brat who has been to foreign countries, and lived on the economy, as well as on the military bases, the people seemed to like us. We were GOOD for their local economies, we got along well, and if we caused problems? We were outta there, INSTANTLY. No trials, no nothing. Guilty. Gone. We were like ambassadors, but without immunity from OUR country's laws, and both countries knew that. There was mutual respect and trust, and i would hope that is STILL happening, at and around all of our military installations. Unless it's like a nation at war, or one which is under a high level alert status, we don't go into these countries, armed to the teeth, to mug, molest NOR murder the local citizenry. We're there FOR them, and, in many instances, at their invitation. Wrong on the isolationism thing, too ~ When you've got friends, you hang around with them, and everyone pretty much knows who they are. When you've got powerful/famous friends, you sort of want everyone to know. Why? 'Cuz now, when you mess with me, and my friends are in total and complete agreement with me, you're messing with THEM, too.
What gives the US or any other country the right to occupy other countries? Do you know how much money it costs to maintain the US empire and keep troops abroad? It has never benefited anyone, and it certainly isn't today.
Well, Reagan was a fraud, much like his predecessors and those that followed him. Reagan was a fake conservative, like Bush, who tripled the size of government. In many regards the Republicans have been worse than the Democrats when it comes to furthering the big government policies they pretend they're against.
america is no longer controled by americans, it is controlled by people who want to control the holy lands using the american tax payers money. and where does the cursed american taxpayer live nowadays? on the streets in tents and with no healthcare this is what happens when you vote into people who despise you
I grew up on military bases. Thing is when I was growing up the wars were over. We weren't forcing ourselves on foreign governments. They looked favorably on us because they got some US aid. Can we afford to pay off foreign governments today to host our military outposts? Can we afford to do that any longer? http://www.rense.com/general66/excl.htm
