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> current imperial top-dog with 800 foreign military bases You make it sound as if they were a part of aggressive expansion and colonisation, which is a bit mi

> current imperial top-dog with 800 foreign military bases You make it sound as if they were a part of aggressive expansion and colonisation, which is a bit misleading. Vast majority of US military bases are in NATO countries that were very enthusiastic about outsourcing protection from the soviet threat.

dhagz 6y ago
It's definitely not colonization, but I'd still say it's aggressive expansion. We just happened to make people think it was a good thing. Looking back now, I'm not so sure it was the net good it was sold as.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  the net good is that the USSR didn't overrun Europe after WW2 and they could have easily if the US hadn't set up camp. It may have even still happened without the atomic bomb as a deterrent.
lostlogin 6y ago
There are some bases that cause a lot of friction however. Behaving like they can do what they like is not in the US’s best interest. The latest rape saga in the Philippines comes to mind and the damage done by the 1990s rape of a child in Okinawa and it’s aftermath have damaged the US image. Also behaving like they are above the law, there was the appalling behaviour of the US military when a family member of a serviceman in the UK drove on the wrong side of the road, killing someone, then claiming diplomatic immunity to fly home. The base in Saudi has been the justification for some horrendous acts too. I’m not sure how you come up with a way of respecting people and their local laws whilst also having bases in places like Saudi, but the US can do better.
- novok 6y ago
  Crimes that number in the dozens of people and is disliked / prosecuted by the USA is a candle compared to the sun of China's concentration camps.
  - lostlogin 6y ago
    So because China is worse, the US is ok? How is that relevant? It’s also not dozens, not even in Japan alone (see links below). The US military also didn’t punish for crimes against civilians on Okinawa much of the time and if it did, the punishment was relatively minor. This isn’t how assault, rape and murder are treated in the US. http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/list_of_crimes.htm http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/list_of_crimes.htm https://apjjf.org/2018/03/Mitchell.html https://apjjf.org/2018/03/Mitchell.html

dhagz 6y ago

It's definitely not colonization, but I'd still say it's aggressive expansion. We just happened to make people think it was a good thing. Looking back now, I'm not so sure it was the net good it was sold as.

stjohnswarts 6y ago
the net good is that the USSR didn't overrun Europe after WW2 and they could have easily if the US hadn't set up camp. It may have even still happened without the atomic bomb as a deterrent.

lostlogin 6y ago

There are some bases that cause a lot of friction however. Behaving like they can do what they like is not in the US’s best interest. The latest rape saga in the Philippines comes to mind and the damage done by the 1990s rape of a child in Okinawa and it’s aftermath have damaged the US image. Also behaving like they are above the law, there was the appalling behaviour of the US military when a family member of a serviceman in the UK drove on the wrong side of the road, killing someone, then claiming diplomatic immunity to fly home. The base in Saudi has been the justification for some horrendous acts too. I’m not sure how you come up with a way of respecting people and their local laws whilst also having bases in places like Saudi, but the US can do better.

novok 6y ago
Crimes that number in the dozens of people and is disliked / prosecuted by the USA is a candle compared to the sun of China's concentration camps.
- lostlogin 6y ago
  So because China is worse, the US is ok? How is that relevant? It’s also not dozens, not even in Japan alone (see links below). The US military also didn’t punish for crimes against civilians on Okinawa much of the time and if it did, the punishment was relatively minor. This isn’t how assault, rape and murder are treated in the US. http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/list_of_crimes.htm http://www.uchinanchu.org/history/list_of_crimes.htm https://apjjf.org/2018/03/Mitchell.html https://apjjf.org/2018/03/Mitchell.html