Never heard that there are for example over 50,000 US soldiers in Germany operating military equipment worth billions of USD courtesy of the US tax-payer?
So, any attack on the German soil must result in dead American soldiers. Now, who sane would risk doing so?
Yeah, very convenient preaching universal healthcare and welfare for the poor when somebody else pays your security bill while you are sitting between Arab Spring and Russian Autocracy.
I don't know what the situation is in Europe but Japan pays a substantial sum to America every year and even had to fund the move of some bases to Guam [1]. Also, American's may run the risk of dying defending a foreign country but in the mean time Japanese are living the risk of rape and murder [2] although the stats are probably on an even keel with the normal murder and rape rate of Japan.
Russia has other reasons not to attack Germany - it makes money by exporting oil and natural gas. Germany is a prime consumer.
What does Arab Spring have to do with it? It is dangerous mostly to some of African dictators and European armed forces in fact supported insurgents in Libya...
Besides, you never addressed my earlier argument that healthy population is vital for national defence.
Russia doesn't use too much logic, their history is all about power not wealth.
Arab Spring beneficiaries are Muslim extremists like Muslim Brotherhood. You know, usual pattern, women are treated like slaves, kids at school study Koran and Koran only, etc. They hate, they loathe, Europe as much as the USA. No, it turns out, they don't like your idea of freedom. They want you to be a Muslim or die. As simple as that.
So, in your comments above you claim that Russia has masterminded a plan to divide and conquer USA using clever propaganda tactics. Here you say Russia doesn't use logic.
So which way do you think it is? Russia is governed by highly intelligent leaders or stupid brutes?
Good point. Highly intelligent brutes who are not interested in their country development. Which probably sounds crazy in civilized ears but is akin to saying that in feudal times aristocracy wasn't interested in living conditions of lower classes.
You see, they are still feudal, you need to account for that when analyzing the country.
So, as feudal masters in the past, the KGB/mafia that currently runs Russia understands politics very well. They are extremely skilled at political strategy and know and understand how to gain advantage. They will read Dostoyevsky and listen to Bach. At the same time they don't really care or/and understand economy as this is not really needed for them as long as they sit on the vast natural resources reserves. Something like Saudis.
heh, "courtesy of the US taxpayer". What you mean is "put there by the US taxpayer". Germany didn't ask for the US to put military bases everywhere, that just grew out of the victory conditions enforced on it from the loss of the war. It very much serves US interests to have those bases in Germany - the idea that it's all a unicorns-and-rainbows gift from the US is nonsense.
The US with no projected power in Europe? Perhaps go write to your congressperson on that one and see how they respond.
>Never heard that there are for example over 50,000 US soldiers in Germany operating military equipment worth billions of USD courtesy of the US tax-payer?
The US, acting as a post-colonial superpower, took advantage of the collapsed post-WWII Germany, to setup a protectorate in the heart of Europe. The country was divided in two, and the Eastern side was given to USSR to play with, whereas the west was the US/NATO frontier to eastern Europe.
The "US bases in Germany" are a relic of this past. And they were meant to establish a stronghold on Europe, and keep the USSR at check. Now they also serve as operations base for missions to further pursue US interests (i.e exploit local people) in Middle East and Africa.
Despite what BS you have been fed, no Iran, no Iraq, no Syria and nobody bloody else, including Putin's Russia, would ever attempt to
To understand how inane your beliefs are to actually foreign affairs savvy Europeans, non fed with Fox News and Glen Beck and non provincial, it would be like South Dakota attacking Texas. Nay, it would be like Fargo attacking Texas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Europe
So, any attack on the German soil must result in dead American soldiers. Now, who sane would risk doing so?
Yeah, very convenient preaching universal healthcare and welfare for the poor when somebody else pays your security bill while you are sitting between Arab Spring and Russian Autocracy.