Can We Bring Them ALL Home?

I have little to no expertise in the area of international politics. But I do have a question that I mean quite sincerely: what would happen if the US brought all its military personnel, stationed and deployed overseas, back to America? And I don’t mean just the 200,000 or so involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, what would happen if we brought home the more than a million men and women stationed all around the world in everywhere from Albania to Zimbabwe? What if instead of closing military bases here in the US, we closed them in Germany, and Italy, and Vietnam, for example? And what if we brought those service people home to work on projects that supported our own country’s infrastructure and security?

I ask this question in all seriousness: what would happen? Would the world suddenly (or perhaps slowly, inevitably) descend into chaos? Would the economies of the countries in which we have troops break down? Would US corporations who have operations in those countries be unable to continue doing business?

I would like to know the answers to these questions and more broadly, I’d like to understand why the US still has such a massive military presence abroad, especially given how clear it’s become in the wake of hurricane Katrina that, as a country, we are less-than-fully prepared for dealing with catastrophes at home.

Now, I suppose one could object that my question smacks of isolationism, that the US, as the world’s remaining superpower, has a special responsibility to protect people in all parts of the globe. This seems like a serious concern. But my response is simply to ask whether we are, in fact, protecting all those folks and if we might not do so more effectively by taking care of ourselves first.

I’m sure this sounds pollyana-ish, like those bumperstickers “visualize world peace.” But so be it. Here, then, is my bumpersticker: Can we bring them ALL home?