Forward bases are important if your response to threats is going to be " boots on the ground " . Those boots are necessary if your aim is to control terrain . If your aim is to respond to threats from nations , well , we never set foot in Japan itself . All the lives that were lost taking the islands in the Pacific could have been saved if we had been able to respond with the BOMB on Dec. 8 , 1941 .
Since 1945 we have been like a guy walking all thru Africa with a 22 and a big sign saying " I've got a 460 Weatherby at home so don't mess with me . " The lions read the sign and leave him alone but the snakes can't read and every time he turns around he's gettin' snakebit .
Our subs and air fleet don't need forward bases to carry out their missions .Their mission is to seek and destroy .
I don't know how many bases we have shut down and new ones established in the last 100 years . Actually , the period from 1945 on is the one we can learn from . The BOMB was a game changer but we still act like the game is the same .
I don't know why you mention Guantanamo . I do know that when we put missles in Turkey , Russia wasn't afraid to roll the dice and put some in Cuba and they came up eleven . We took ours out of Turkey .
All of life is a gamble . Given the population of the 'fire , it's a certainty that some guy is thinking of getting married with no guarantee he's getting a good deal . Another is getting a divorce because his situation has become untenable .
He is willing to hire a lawyer and get the deal going and is prepared to deal with the aftermath one day at a time because where he is , is untenable .
Our situation is becoming untenable and it's time to roll the dice , I'm thinking .
