American Military Bases Overseas.

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I am watching an episode of Ancient Aliens, Season 5 and a now abandoned American air force base in Great Britain was mentioned because someone saw a ufo there once. I started wondering about how the Brits must have felt about having it there when it was open. I imagined they didn't care for it much. Then I started thinking about how if there's even a hint of any foreign military presence in the US, the locals go off the deep end and start coming up with all these far fetched conspiracy theories and won't ever let it rest.
I thought what a double standard!
Why is it US citizens are so paranoid of any foreign military bases over here while we have them in other places, without thinking it would freak foreign locals out?

Because we live in the Capitalist, Liberal, Western world that America made, since WWII, and even more so since the fall of the soviet union. Our pact with Europe has mostly been that they don't go to war with each other, and in turn, America will provide them protection.

It would be nicer if Europeans actually payed for their own military, but they can't, because every last coin goes to subsidize a decaying safety net that won't be able to sustain an aging, childless Europe. And it's generally the young who serve in the military... and, well, Europe doesn't have much of those around.

But you know, it would be nice to fantasize about our European and East Asian allies, taking a more prominent role in the world. When a genocide happens in the Middle East, it would be nice for France or South Korea to tell the international community "hey guys, we got this. We're on our way." With all the money we could have been saving ourselves, we would probably have colonies on the moon by now, not to mention, streets lined with gold, and freakishly alien uber-efficient healthcare to splurge on those who need it the most around the world.

Americans would be paranoid, and rightly so, of foreign military presence because, well, most don't share our vision of the world order we want to create. Others want a second polarity to counter the existence of US power. Others want a multi-polar world where power is leveled equally between all countries. Others want a region to exert dominance over the world. and some just want anarchy, because only in that environment will they thrive.

Basic human rights, like the right to not have your life taken, or to express your opinions freely without fear of death, would cease to exist in most of those options, including the multi-polar world because that's a fantasy we can't create.

France, Great Britain, and Germany are all pretty much on the same page as the US so having any of their military in our country wouldn't be a threat but Americans would still not feel comfortable and definitely would not rest until they went back to Europe.

Well fine, but they can't afford it. It costs us 8 billion dollars a year just to maintain a base and house like 40,000 troops in Germany. I don't think a Germany who not only has slashed its military budget severely but doesn't have extra money to throw around at an American base, would be reluctant to splurge on such a project.

You open up a military base where you hope to exert your influence. We Americans don't really have an issue taking care of disputes in our hemisphere. The other reason it would be awkward is because we don't really share an intimate relationship with any of those countries beyond tourism and nato, etc. France left NATO due to its anti-American view. Germany shares little with us on how to approach the world. But at the core of it all, we don't share the same values or goals.

Americans wouldn't feel uncomfortable with Israel opening up a military base here. I think Texas would probably make the highest bid to build that base in their state. The UK would be a tad unnerving, however not that much because not only of our shared history and narrative, but also because of an American romance with all things English. So I don't really think that's true in all cases, but even where it is, there's good reason to be suspicious of why weaker powers would need to deploy their military in our sphere of influence.

the british not liking us saving their hides from the germans?

[Citation Needed]

This is a case of simple logistics. USA and Britain are allies, and would be such if embroiled in any future conflict. There is very little to be gained from Britain having a presence in the US as there are no nearby potential threats that aren't already covered by the British presence around South America. On the other hand, it makes sense for the US to maintain bases on British soil for, amongst other things, the rapid deployment of assets to mainland Europe, Africa, etc from within a country that shares extensive mutual defence and cooperation treaties with the US.

For an example of just how intertwined the two nations are Militarily, see US-UK-MDA.

Yes a citation please. Do you know how reluctant the USA was to help Britain?

Obviously bases like Lakenheath have been forward defences for the USA against nucear attack.

Americans like pretend they're Christian but seems respect or understand the concept of the golden rule, most Americans believe might makes right.

Citation from me? I said I imagine they didn't on principle. Citizens of foreign nations generally don't like military bases in their countries unless its their own bases.

No a citation from blauSamstag. 'Foreign nationals' such as we British may not like US bases here if they is seen as making us a likely nuclear target. I wouldn't know why the Japanese have so much ill feeling about it.

Most of them in the UK and Germany were built and staffed during the cold war and several have been closed since. How the locals felt about it depended on how each individual felt about having Americans there as opposed to Russians.


There aren't that many over here and I don't think most people are bothered by those that are.

Oh yes they are! There's conspiracy theories over anything military and on our soil.

You're saying most people are bothered by them?

Why have a military presence when spies are so effective. I wonder how many nations have spies in the US. In fact how many nations know there way around the Pentagon computers considering our John Mckinnon walked right in with commercially available software and had to anounce himself before getting caught. Its surely a lot more frightening than a small military presence.

Jade Helm 15????

There's a faction of people who are always deeply disturbed by anything going on in the military if it occurs on US soil. If suddenly French, English and German military bases were opened here, conspiracists would run rampant about how the New World Order is ganging up to squash their rights and strip the US of sovereignty. You of all people are surely aware of them!