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It's entirely up to the US which bases it keeps open, indeed the US has now decided to close Mildenhall, Alconbury and Molesworth and to reopen Fairford whilst investing heavily in Croughton - that is your call, not ours.
As already mentioned most of these bases are Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance rather than out and out military bases, but that's your call as a nation.
Of course you're not stopping us. Our dumbass leaders are. You don't need us and haven't needed us since WW2. And we certainly don't need the U.K. if we ever did.
Our founders wanted the United States to stay out of European entanglements. Their descendants have betrayed that vision.
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"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
What security does Europe offer the United States?
Article 5 was invoked following 9/11 with all NATO members committed to US Defence.
We fought alongside you as part of a NATO force in Afghanistan at the cost of 1,000 lives and vast sums of money.
We fight wars and provide peacekeeping forces in many of the worlds trouble spots.
We provide the US with use of our bases both at home and abroad, in terms of the UK this means allowing the US to use bases such as Diego Garcia, Cyprus, Gibralter, Ascension Island etc, all of wwhich are of strategic importance.
We provide the US with inbuilt allies in a world where the US has few real allies and a lot of potential threats against it.
We share intelligence and cooperate on a multitude of levels.
We have formed joint reaction forces to support NATO acton both at a European level and an international level and have and continue to increase defece spending.
We have iimportant defence manufacturing and technology industries throughout Europe.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,186 posts, read 13,477,157 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
Of course you're not stopping us. Our dumbass leaders are. You don't need us and haven't needed us since WW2. And we certainly don't need the U.K. if we ever did.
Our founders wanted the United States to stay out of European entanglements. Their descendants have betrayed that vision.
633 British Service Personnel have died in US led operations since 2003 and helping the US has cost more money than the relatively small amount of funding a few bases in the UK, and most of Europe doesn't even have US Bases, they are mainly in Germany and Italy with a few bases in the UK, none in France and very little in the rest of Europe.
The US does not have a large military presense in Europe and what is here serves US needs in relation to medical support, logistics, intelligence, signals, naval support and airbases etc
Britain has forces based in North America, near Medicine Hat in Canada - British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS).
Quote:
Originally Posted by British Army
BATUS is equipped with in excess of 1000 vehicles including a full complement of Challenger 2 tanks and Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Over 400 permanent staff and 1000 temporary deployed staff provide highly demanding combined arms manoeuvre training for the armoured forces of the British Army and our allies.
The training area at BATUS is the size of Wales. 4 Battlegroups, each containing approximately 1400 soldiers, are trained at BATUS each year. These exercises, which are around 30 days in duration, are split into two phases; Live Fire and Tactical Effects Simulation (TESEX), the later with a live enemy. The TESEX system identifies when vehicles have been fired at and damaged / destroyed and also informs soldiers when they are being fired at and if hit what injuries they have sustained.
everyone cares. the problem is that socialism eats up other peoples money so there is little to spend on this. the US can only do what it does now because it holds the worlds reserve currency - and once that changes (and it will- soon) - we will become like those countries that can't afford to pay what we agreed to. that includes trillions in unfunded domestic liabilities promised but that can't possibly be paid. there are those waiting patiently for us to get our comeuppance at which point we will want NATO to work.
The Ukraine isn't worth the life of an American soldier. Not our problem.
Who needs allies, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by don1945
Absolutely. We also have to ask this question: How many foreign countries have their bases in the US ? How many American bases are spread throughout the rest of the world ? Should we just plop ourselves down on their soil and expect to pay nothing ? The security we gain from our bases being in those places is extremely important and we should pay for that courtesy.
What's the point? This is stupid. If NATO member nations see no point in paying more, then why should they pay more?
The United States just keeps trying to shoehorn itself into the affairs of other regions. If the European nations don't value NATO as much as we do, then we're the idiots, not them! Why do Americans care more about Europe's security than the Europeans do? Again, these are our economic competitors, and spending billions of US taxpayer money on their defense while they take six week annual vacations and enjoy universal health coverage is insulting and SHOULD be insulting to the average American.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 4 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,186 posts, read 13,477,157 times
Reputation: 19518
Quote:
Originally Posted by desertdetroiter
They don't need, like, or want the treaty anymore. If they did, you wouldn't have to keep begging them for the money.
That's even simpler.
So what do you place against that fact?
There was a plan put in place in 2014 to increase defence spending to 2%, and NATO countries outise the US have increased their contribution to the alliance by $45.8 Billion in the last three years alone. The plan is to increase capabilities and joint working.
Britain hosts two important Joint NATO Commands, the first is the Joint Maritime Command based at Northwood in North West London, which is home to vast underground bunkers. Indeed anyone who has seen the film 'Captain Phillips' would have noticed that when the Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama it was Northwood who they contacted and who coordinate efforts in the area.
The second NATO Command is the 'Allied Rapid Reaction Corps' (ARRC), a NATO High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters ready for deployment worldwide within five to thirty days. the corps is commanded by a British Army Lieutenant-General and Britain provides about 80% of the funding and 60% of the staff for the HQ. The remaining 40% of the staff are made up of a further 14 Partner Nations including the US. ARRC is based ar Imjin Barracks near Innsworth in Gloucestershire.
Britain has also taken command of the newly formed NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) as well as being part of the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Force.
There was a plan put in place in 2014 to increase defence spending to 2%, and NATO countries outise the US have increased their contribution to the alliance by $45.8 Billion in the last three years alone. The plan is to increase capabilities and joint working.
Britain hosts two important Joint NATO Commands, the first is the Joint Maritime Command based at Northwood in North West London, which is home to vast underground bunkers. Indeed anyone who has seen the film 'Captain Phillips' would have noticed that when the Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama it was Northwood who they contacted and who coordinate efforts in the area.
The second NATO Command is the 'Allied Rapid Reaction Corps' (ARRC), a NATO High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters ready for deployment worldwide within five to thirty days. the corps is commanded by a British Army Lieutenant-General and Britain provides about 80% of the funding and 60% of the staff for the HQ. The remaining 40% of the staff are made up of a further 14 Partner Nations including the US. ARRC is based ar Imjin Barracks near Innsworth in Gloucestershire.
Britain has also taken command of the newly formed NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) as well as being part of the Anglo-French Combined Expeditionary Force.
My qualms have never been with the U.K. though. It's obvious that they value the alliance. Why? I don't know, but they do.
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