Tell Me Again Why We Still Have U.S. Troops Stationed In South Korea?

I found an article in the April 19, 2010 issue of Business Week to be very interesting. It was titled "How Korea Fretted Its Way To Success" and was written by Moon Ihlwan. Among the more interesting facts and observations shared by Moon were the following:

• South Korea's exports to nearby China jumped almost fivefold from 2000 to 2009, giving the South Koreans a very strong trading foothold in the fastest growing economy in the world.
• Samsung, a major South Korean electronics manufacturer dominates in the newest television technology, LED, with 85% of the U.S. market.
• South Korean companies won half of all gas and oil contracts in Abu Dhabi in 2009.
• South Korean companies won the contract to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, beating out established U.S. and French companies.
• Samsung was the primary contractor for Dubai's Burj Khalifa Tower, the tallest building in the world.
• Government programs are focused on the future by supporting South Korean companies involved with robotics, solar energy, biotechnology, green transportation, etc. The government expects these new fields to double the value of its exports in these fields within three years and add a million jobs to the workforce.

Obviously, South Korean is a nation on the rise with a strong present and a focused sense of the future. Thus, the question arises: why do we spend billions and billions of dollars every year by garrisoning thousands of U.S. troops in the country while the South Koreans use the money they would have spent guarding their country from North Korea on expanding their economy and workforce? Why not let them pay for all of their defense needs, let us bring all of our troops home and save the expense of stationing those troops there.

This is a relic of historical thinking, when South Korea was ravished by the Korean War and needed protection while it rebuilt itself. Well, it has rebuilt itself and will start kicking our economic pants off if we continue to waste taxpayer money doing things that are no longer necessary. We are facing massive spending deficits, we are not looking to the future, we are trying to survive the present from an economic perspective. Let's bring home the tens of thousand of troops we have not only in South Korea but in Japan, Germany, and elsewhere. We cannot afford to do many of things that we have historically done and probably do not need to do anymore or should not do anymore. Let those countries pay for their defense with their tax dollars and their troops. Let us spend those U.S. tax dollars on U.S interests such as reducing the deficit and returning taxes to those that paid them. Step 30 in "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" proposes this exact strategy.

A side benefit might just be better international relations since it would reduce our military presence around the world and possibly lead to more responsibility being shown by other nations. Heaven knows that putting U.S. troops just about everywhere has not been successful in many areas of foreign policy, maybe bringing them home would.

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