The American Spectator

It’s a boondogle!
— Dan Gebow

SUBSIDIZING WELFARE STATES
Re: Doug Bandow’s The Cold War Is History:

While it would be imprudent to totally abandon NATO it is time we begin looking for ways to cut back on U.S. defense expenditures in Europe. When President Bush wisely proposed scaling back on overseas bases, there was catcall from faux war hero John Kerry. Meanwhile, European politicians were worried about the loss of revenue, Democrats and conservatives — they were all wrong.  Europe must be forced to defend itself, because thanks to Barack Obama and Democrats the U.S. cannot continue funding foreign “military welfare programs” in Europe. With their reckless spending and bankrupt domestic agenda, Democrats are imperiling the U.S. military at a time when it must be focused on eliminating the threat of Islamic imperialism (a force Europe would rather coddle than fight).

While I’m not advocating closing all bases in Europe it would be wise to consider strategic downsizing and the first place to cut is the U.S. Army’s presence in Germany. British Tory Liam Fox is right, “For NATO to work properly as a security alliance in the post Cold War world, NATO members must have the willingness to take equal risks with regards to supplying troops and equipment.” He is also correct when he opines it is time for Britain to end its military presence in Germany.  The Soviet Union no longer exists, its massive horde of tanks rolling across Central Europe is no longer a threat, so there is no need for the U.S. to maintain expensive Army bases in Germany. The billions spent there on the Army would be better spent on the F-22 Raptor and increasing the size of the Navy. Both weapons systems are more essential to the defense of the U.S. and its power projection than “resorts” in lovely Bavaria. 

France and Germany want  to be players on the world stage and plan to dominate the E.U. — let them by shouldering the defense of their continent. There is also the issue that some of the host nations are hostile to the U.S., because of its dominance in the world.   To make them happy we should get the hell out of their countries as fast as possible. The socialists of Spain are far more interested in currying the favor of Islamic extremists than the U.S. military so maybe we should consider closing the Navy base at Rota. The U.S. military does not exist as a source of revenue for bankrupt leftist governments in Europe. Its purpose is to defend America and make life hell for this country’s enemies.

The time has come for the U.S. to end it financial subsidies to Europe’s military forces and their welfare states.
— Michael Tomlinson
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

SUFFERING
Re: Jay D. Homnick’s A Thousand Points of Lightness:

With all due respect to Mr. Homnick, always very amusing to read, President Obama cannot “defeat the law of gravity” (not to mention gravity itself), and this will be his undoing. In the end, reality is what it is, and all the progressive nostrums in the world won’t change that. The only question is how much the rest of us will have to suffer, and for how long, until sanity returns. Happily, Americans don’t suffer suffering as some other peoples do, and it already appears that they have had enough. The next many months, and beyond that, two years or so, should be fun to watch; something about “reaping the whirlwind” comes to mind.
— D. Reich
Auburn New York

THE MANDATE FROM HEAVEN
Re: Jeffrey Lord’s The Running of the Bulls: Is Harry Reid the Next Scott Lucas?:

I once ran across the theory that with those elected politicians who serve for long periods of time, after awhile the old generation that elected them dies out and a new generation comes in. These new voters “know of” the politician, but they don’t “know” him — he doesn’t campaign that much, they don’t hear him on radio (or, later, see him on TV), and they don’t get to know him in a way that will make them vote for him. Especially if someone they do know, and do want to vote for, comes along.   In any government, one’s Mandate from Heaven can run out abruptly, and any leader who loses sight of that might lose sight of other things.
— Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida