ARGH: "Hey, we still have troops in Germany and Japan!"

[LuckyTheDog]

"Hey, we still have troops in Germany and Japan and nobody complains about that!" - said a million times by Bush followers.

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I really wish fans of the Iraq war would stop saying it's OK to fight an endless war there because we still have troops in Germany and Japan. They have to know what an intellectually dishonest argument it is to compare those situations with Iraq.

We have troops in Germany and Japan as a left-over effect of the Cold War -- in which we formed a defensive alliance with those governments. As part of the alliance, we got to station troops in those places as a deterrent to the USSR. In neither case is the U.S. military facing any hostile action and we are not there to ensure internal security in any way. In short: we are not occupying Japan or Germany in any sense.

A similar situation exists in S. Korea. Our troops are there to deter an attack from N. Korea, not to "stabilize" South Korea or put down an insurgency.

[neuvocat]

1. One big difference though:

Iraq wasn't at war with the U.S. when it was invaded.

[LuckyTheDog]

2. That, too!

Yes, that is another good reason why that argument is nonsense.

[BlooInBloo]

5. And, um, we aren't killing them. And they are serving a purpose there. Andandandand...

[Rage for Order]

7. What purpose are they serving there?

Besides pumping money into the economies of Japan & Germany. I'm not saying this in support of having troops in Iraq, but rather in support of bringing our troops home from the European countries and Korean peninsula, among other places.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Sigh. Ok fine - *were*. The contrast remains.

[BlueJac]

3. Why is the Fucking question???

We are nuts sometime.

[provis99]

4. republican logic at work

hey dimwit Republicans! We aren't at war with Japan and Germany, and haven't been for 50 years. How about we stop the war in Iraq, and then we can decide whether they want us to stay there.

[berni_mccoy]

6. Ask them if we still have troops in Viet Nam or North Korea?

[dysfunctional press]

9. you only get to leave troops there(live ones anyway) if you WIN.

yet another reason for us to be out of iraq.