It’s Time to Withdraw

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Paul H. Tai, Carlsbad, CA

Hung-chao Tai; Professor of International Political Economy, Emeritus, University of Detroit Mercy; President, American Association for Chinese Studies, 2009-2010; Editor, American Journal of Chinese Studies, 1996-98; published books on international political economy, land reform, Confucianism and economic development, US-China-Taiwan relations, and Chinese history, and articles in professional journals; living in Carlsbad (in San Diego area), California, USA

President Obama’s announcement last October to recall all our troops from Iraq at the end of this year signifies a painful but necessary decision. It is painful, for we have made so heavy sacrifices for the Iraq War but end it up with nothing to celebrate.

We lost 4,500 young American soldiers and many times more veterans with physical and mental scars. We wasted $800 billion on the war, a sum even larger than what we spent on the longest American military venture overseas, the Vietnam War of 1964-1975 ($738 billion). Yet, we did not find any Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and any evidence of a pre-war connection between the Saddam Hussein regime and the Al Qaeda terrorist group—the very reasons why President George W. Bush rushed us to invade a country most Americans did not even know what its capital was.

We don’t have Iraq’s casualty figures, but one estimate has put the civilian death tolls at 100,000—thirty three times what we lost in 9/11. Today, while the country lies in shambles, its sectarian feuds and street violence continue unabated; and it arduously holds on to a democracy that is fragile, at best.

To call back our troops from a war that has incurred these enormous costs for the benefit of neither America nor Iraq must be considered necessary.

Now, prudence requires us to take this occasion to think deep and hard about the entire American military posture abroad. I believe it’s time to withdraw all of our forces from overseas. Let me state my reasons:

First, after the Second World War we created the largest, globe-spanning military network in history, involving at one time more than 50 nations. For over 60 years we have been continuously stationing hundreds of thousands troops on bases in foreign countries. All this establishment was designed to fight the Cold War. But that war was over one decade ago, and we still deploy 300,000 troops (one fifth of the total American military personnel) on foreign soil; we maintain 820 military installations in 135 countries; and we spent at least $1.5 trillion in the last 11 years to keep intact an outdated military network that seems perpetuating forever.

One side effect of this posture is a startling, inconvenient truth: Since the end of the Second World War we have fought more foreign wars and killed more foreigners than any other nation on earth 

Second, with all the wars we have fought since 1945, we have not achieved our objective of creating a peaceful international environment. We fought the Korean War to a draw, deserted South Vietnam, got into a deep mess in Iraq and Afghanistan, and made the Middle East more unstable than ever before. Only in the Gulf War of 1991 did we win a clear-cut victory. Our military posture just does not pay.

Third, many thoughtful scholars have pointed out one significant but neglected historical lesson (see, for instance, Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of Great Powers). Great nations invariably decline when they overextend their power abroad. Rome and Persia in ancient time; Britain, Germany, and Japan in modern times are indisputable examples.

For America, we must recognize one reality: We amassed great wealth before we overly asserted our power. We devoted the whole 19th century to continental expansion and improvement of education, agriculture, and industry. All the while we had no standing army (except in the Civil War period); we fought no major foreign wars. On the whole, the 19th century was our century of peace and prosperity. Then we had a vastly different 20th century. We fought major wars in Europe, the Pacific, China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, and the Middle East; and we fought small wars in countries that most Americans cannot place on the map, such as Lebanon, Somalia, Grenada, and Kosovo. The 20th century became our century of wars and destruction.

As a result, we vitiated much of our wealth. Our national debt of $15 trillion is equivalent to what our nation produces in one whole year; our post office system verges on bankruptcy; our bridges and highways are crumbling; many of our state parks, libraries, and schools are closed; our teachers, firemen, and policemen are laid off. Not all these problems owe to overseas military spending, but it is a major factor. Two illustrations should prove the point. In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars we have so far spent $1,267 billion. That’s more than twice the money for the bailout program. Our 50 States’ total budget shortfall stands at $102 billion. That’s less than what we are spending in Afghanistan in one year

Overseas military withdrawal is a must. However, we should never forget that threat from abroad remains constant and unpredictable. Hence, we should have a phased, responsible withdrawal schedule; in the meantime we must persuade our allies that they—not we—take up the major responsibility for their security; we must maintain a sizable and strong army in our country to deal with contingencies.

And, of course, we must shore up our strength to fight terrorism. With the savings from overseas spending, we should augment our homeland security budget and personnel, improve surveillance and inspection procedures, expand our covert operations abroad. Our recent successes against Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders show the way. Intelligence work + Naval Seals + drones + Satellites are our effective weapons to combat foreign terrorists. Hidden threat must be dealt with by hidden power.