And America's biggest European base (Camp Bondsteel) exists in Kosovo because? I mean we spent all that tax payer money in Kosovo to create a temporary base in Kosovo just to keep the peace?
First, in no way is Bondsteel "America's biggest European base". Camp Bondsteel is a 1,000 acre facility which at its peak several years ago held about 4,000 soldiers. It now holds less than 2,000. It holds fewer troops than virtually all our bases in Germany; not to mention nearby Vicenza, Italy. It has no significant training facilites--nothing to compare with the thousands of acres at Grafenwohr & Vilseck in German and our leased areas in Poland. Bondsteel is also not on any major transport hubs-no seaport or major airfield or railroad and the road network is notoriously abysmal. It has none of the advantages the U.S. military seeks in its overseas bases; and are being offered by nearby countries eager for our presence--Albania, Bulgaria, Romania.
Bondsteel is designed and used for one thing only, to house our units stationed in Kosovo as part of the NATO KFOR mission. The military, learning from the Bosnia experience, built for the long term right away so we did not have troops for months or even years on end wading through the mud to get to their unheated tents so they could eat their MREs out of the rain. And that's that. For other theories, refer to the photo at post #10.