MILITARY PRESENCE

187 – Monday, July 6, 2009

We sat in a booth near the entrance of our ‘breakfast joint’ adjacent to a table of six men who were discussing world affairs – you know, where the armchair would-be world leaders pass their opinions over a cup of joe and applaud themselves for being smarter than your average politician – a feat not all that noteworthy these days. I overheard one of the younger gentlemen state that we had troops in more than 150 countries, a fact that gave me pause - in reality, sort of caused the hair on the nape of my neck to bristle just a bit. I know we have the ongoing conflict in Iraq and that, of necessity, mandates the mustering of some troops in nearby locales, but 150 countries? Could it really be that we truly do have that much world presence? I was compelled to charge home and right away mount my trusty computer to search the internet in a query for myself – the site I found was http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5564 and when I perused it, I became stunned! With United States military bases in a multitude of countries, our installations now number somewhere between 700 and 800 outside of the US. At a cost of about a thousand dollars for every man, woman, and child, I have to wonder just how much of that might is necessary to maintain our freedom and how much is mandated as a draining force on our economic stability by those pressed from a sense of global paranoia. Military budgets have grown enormous, in just the past decade more than 70%. Yes, I am the same guy who wrote just a couple of days ago extolling the virtues of freedom granted me by our Declaration, but I also wrote about the cost and value of eternal vigilance. I am not an isolationist by a long shot. Neither am I a dove who does not understand the need for a strong and well equipped armed forces – but I do harbor a lot of questions! Where is there an end in sight? What is the nature of that end? Is our fate the same as so many of the former ‘world powers’ that have attended ruin because of their rapacious need of conquest? What will become of our beloved nation? All I know is, when the Bible records ‘the end’ we are not even mentioned in the chronicle. God help us all!

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