Maybe Helperin could answer this questions first:
- Why has the U.S. had a continual troop presence in Korea, Europe, and Japan for over 50 years (and many other places, too)?
It was absurd for the U.S. to prop up those countries for so long. If they didn’t have the guts to develop a strong defense for themselves in a reasonable amount of time then they didn’t deserve to have our young men and women as their first line of defense.
I’m not sure about Germany, but the Constitution that the US created for the Japanese after WWII basically forbade them any ability to project any force any where. Their armed forces were by dint of the wording of that Constitution re-named and became in fact “Self-Defense” forces, legally proscribed from developing anything that could remotely be termed “of aggressive purpose”.
The Japanese haven’t developed any weapons systems of note since then, being forced into client state status by the actions of a victorious USA.
As for Europe and the rest of the free world, the USA basically said “Don’t worry about it, WE’LL look after defense against the communist bloc, or anything else that might come up.”
The rest of the world took the USA at their word, and now some folks deride and insult the nations that believed America’s promise. Go figure.