Originally posted by Skydancer
You may notice I did not say it was a bad thing. Simply that it was incorrect to state that US forces go fight wars then go straight back home.
Don't be obtuse. Any US troops that stayed in Europe after WW2 were not there colonize the host nation or make them an American vassal.
There was, of course, an initial occupation of the belligerent countries and a period of "drawdown"of troops that had been deployed to fight the war.
We brought as many troops home as we could and left a necessary number of troops to meet an accurately perceived threat from a potential adversary.
You're familiar with NATO right? It was formed for what reason? Where would it get it's troops to perform it's mission? Were US troops required or was post-war Europe ready to defend itself against the Red Army?
Our troops DO go home, as rapidly as possible consistent with the chance of peace without them deployed.
You won't find anyone in the US that actually wants their son in Iraq or Afghanistan a moment longer than is necessary for those two countries to defend themselves.
