This is absolutely PURE CRAP! I can't believe that anyone would still buy this. I hope you don't really believe that!
Our troops are not there as a "deterrent". Anyone who actually still believes this bill-of-goods has been suckered by the government.
Our U.S. troops are actually there as a 'trigger' point to make it easier for the United States to get involved militarily in any cross-border conflict.
Bring the troops home. Let the Koreans do the fighting. I am sick and tired of our sons dying for other people's behind!!!!
I didn’t tell you that my private view is that the troops are there as a trip wire (which you call a trigger point)but the argument is still the same—it is a deterent.
One of the problems I have with US foreign policy is that we make alliances and then fail to live up to our assurances when a determined foe causes casualties to our troops on the ground and it appears that we would have to defend for a long period of time.
Our leaders—and to be truthful, many patriotic citizens—simply will not hold up under pressure on alliances for any length of time. We want fast solutions. This makes it difficult to have any meaningful long term alliances to protect our interests—because really important national interests are hard to agree on and even harder to implement long term when the national interests of the other country may change.
Tell me your choices for national interests and I’ll tell you where we should have force agreements or force agreements to our hegemony.
There has been an isolationist stream of consciousness in our national ethos since the beginning of the country. That’s what Ron Paul has tapped into and it is a legitimate argument if you posit that we have no natural interests in what goes on beyond our borders.