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0 pointskqr1mo ago0 comments

> Having difficulty projecting force from the air with fighter bombers launched from air craft carriers and refueling caravans from the Indian Ocean or Mediterranean Sea

This is not to be underestimated. It is very rare to be able to project military power far from one's capital. That the US is able to do it at all is remarkable. We should not expect it to be easy.

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venzaspa1mo ago

This is in large part because the US relies on their bases in allied countries at their grace.

ericmay1mo ago

We can remove them and do the isolationist thing as many have been clamoring for. Then we have no need for bases in Europe or the Middle East. Gulf States can figure out how to live with a nuclear armed Iran or one that has a repository of thousands of missiles to blow up gulf state infrastructure when they misbehave. We can remove the bases in Europe too, and when Russia invades Lithuania the Spanish and Germans can take care of it.

Or perhaps these bases aren’t just in allied countries “at their grace”. These alliance systems don’t just solely benefit America.

protocolture1mo ago

I mean, theres meant to be intangibles, and some financial support. Most of the financial support got cut by doge and the rest would go with leaving NATO. The intangibles literally never eventuate. Australia tried to invoke ANZUS with East Timor and got brushed off, despite the various US facilities in Aus being sold to the australian voter as insurance that the US would help if requested.

Honestly the US as a strategic partner is just a joke. its nothing but sigint.

Lets not even start on AUKUS.

ericmay1mo ago

I don't disagree with you, but just pushing back on this high-and-mighty "we let you be here" sensibility from the OP. For some reason folks seem to have become convinced the opposite way from MAGA that these bases only serve American interests which is certainly not the case. Likewise the bases also don't only serve the interest of others, they allow us to have more flexibility in our objectives and responses to issues that we see.

2 more replies

dinkumthinkum1mo ago

Their grace? Who powers NATO? People need to realize that just because you don’t like something like America, it doesn’t mean beliefs that are divorced from reality about it are true.

mo70611mo ago

The uk, what the USA refers to as the unsinkable aircraft carrier

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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venzaspa1mo ago

This is in large part because the US relies on their bases in allied countries at their grace.

ericmay1mo ago

Or perhaps these bases aren’t just in allied countries “at their grace”. These alliance systems don’t just solely benefit America.

protocolture1mo ago

Honestly the US as a strategic partner is just a joke. its nothing but sigint.

Lets not even start on AUKUS.

ericmay1mo ago

2 more replies

dinkumthinkum1mo ago

Their grace? Who powers NATO? People need to realize that just because you don’t like something like America, it doesn’t mean beliefs that are divorced from reality about it are true.

mo70611mo ago

The uk, what the USA refers to as the unsinkable aircraft carrier

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse