Is this true about Dr. Paul and how to respond?

[VoteRonPaul2008]

"Ron Paul Supporters: Paul would like to bring the troops home from ALL around the world...then what?
What does Paul propose to do once they are brought home?

What do you think they should do?"

[mrd]

lol. celebrate?

[murrayrothbard]

"Ron Paul Supporters: Paul would like to bring the troops home from ALL around the world...then what?
What does Paul propose to do once they are brought home?

What do you think they should do?"

what do you mean? the military trains. you hope you never have to use them. obviously we don't need a giant military to defend the US. Switch to defense mode, not offense

[0zzy]

Well, it would be a transitional period. The fastest would be from the middle east and in Korea. I think it'd take rather long to get them out of all of Europe and Asia (Japan mainly)

[schmeisser]

The same thing they always did - Train for the day we truly need them to defend us. In the meantime they can live here at home as citizen soldiers with their families.

[Shink]

Have a strong defense. Duh--he IS a conservative, after all.

[NewEnd]

Guard the borders
fix roads
gaurd military targets
gaurd energy plants
track and inspect incoming cargo for nuclear materials

[Adamsa]

Guard the borders
fix roads
gaurd military targets
gaurd energy plants
track and inspect incoming cargo for nuclear materials

Sounds good to me, more useful than anything they'd do in Korea.

[Nate K]

'then what?' lmao.. do we really need to be occupying a country every second of every minute?

didn't you see the video of Ron Paul, "we shouldn't be looking for dragons to slay"

[VoteRonPaul2008]

but what about our bases and stuff? why withdraw? sorry I support Paul 100% I'm just a bit confused on how I explain these things to possible new supporters?

[Micahyah]

Simple answer.

Train for battle. Continue improving as the best military force on the planet.

[FSP-Rebel]

Alot more money will return to private hands which will propel the creation of many new jobs.

[Jobarra]

Well, I imagine train and train. What do troops usually do in peacetime?

May want to mention that with the troops back on American soil, they will be given TONS more cash to AMERICAN businesses instead of businesses overseas. So while saving money on overseas bases helps, you have a doubled economic impact of having them spend their weekend and offtime in local business.

If the person is heavily into environmentalism, you may also want to bring up the fact of just how much pollution we're not causing either by logistically supporting bases around the world.

[Menthol Patch]

Once we bring all our troops home we can defend our borders and build a very tough national DEFENSE! With the trillions of dollars that can be saved we can take care of our veterans that are in need of medical care or homes to live in. Additionally, we can give the money BACK to the people in the form of tremendous tax cuts.

[NewEnd]

1. Military pay will once again circulate in America, not in Europe or Korea

2. teh bases can be sold or leased to the nations in which they exist... we dont need them.


Did anybody ever notice we got NUKES!!!!!

we dont need international bases!

(except perhaps naval bases, to keep our sea lanes open, which IIRC, Paul haas endorsed)

[Adamsa]

What is the profit for America is they stay in Europe or Korea?

[Nate K]

but what about our bases and stuff? why withdraw? sorry I support Paul 100% I'm just a bit confused on how I explain these things to possible new supporters?

and why do we our bases there? they're obviously there for a reason, to be ready to plan an attack on any given country whenever our cowboy president feels like it.

[Pauliana]

Some of them might get jobs. :)

[Nefertiti]

I actually asked Dr. Paul this question myself during the Washington Post chat with him. :D You can find his answer here (look for the question from Chicago):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/01/DI2007100101451.html?nav=rss_discussions

[LinearChaos]

Save the money and use it domestically.

I have read a lot articles pointing out that our presence in Korea is one of the main obstacles to any sort of unification.

[ladyliberty]

They could help rebuild OUR country - not necessarily as a military force, but they could certainly use their skills to rebuild levees (not just NO either), bridges, infrastructure that is crumbling around our ears. We could concetrate our efforts on reducing our dependency on foriegn oil. Without the NAFTA, etc., we will need to rebuild and restart our manufacturing plants.

I can see lots of ways retired military personnel could use their skills and experience to help rebuild our country.

[tsetsefly]

Guard the borders
fix roads
gaurd military targets
gaurd energy plants
track and inspect incoming cargo for nuclear materials

that on top of the billions saved...

[schmeisser]

A smaller well trained force could also be a higher paid force - do we really want our soldiers resorting to food stamps like they do now?

[southerntrendkill]

Save us Trillions of dollars, secure our boarders, ect.

The real question is why do we need troops in over 130 Countries? And if the 130 Countries really need us there why don't they pay for our services?:confused:

[Jobarra]

I actually asked Dr. Paul this question myself during the Washington Post chat with him. :D You can find his answer here (look for the question from Chicago):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/01/DI2007100101451.html?nav=rss_discussions
I'm guessing this was your question?

Chicago: Dr. Paul, I have had one question I have never found an answer too since I began supporting you months ago. You talk about bringing the troops home, and I understand to some extent that will save us money. But what will the troops do once they come home? What will a domestically-based military look like and how will it keep the budget down as troops still need to be supported, equipment purchased etc.?

Rep. Ron Paul: What you want to do is not have so many troops -- the founders indicated that we don't need a standing army, and to an extent that is true. What we need is a strong defense, but right now there is zero chance of an invasion by another country and right now we have more firepower than all other countries put together. Once you change the policy you don't need these numbers of troops. We need a smaller and elite military, as Rumsfeld said -- and also a smaller and elite foreign policy. If you bring troops home from Korea we don't need them marching around here -- you can save that money and have a much smaller military.


While I started off by disagreeing with him thinking that we need to maintain current troop levels, I think now that possibly having such a large army at their disposal allowed Congress and the President alot more power in conducting aggressive measures against foreign powers. If you have to call up volunteers to wage a prolonged military action, it's alot harder to do when you are not supported by the people.

[Menthol Patch]

The most important national defense is a well armed citizenry!

[krott5333]

get drunk

[Nefertiti]

Yes, that's the question.

[southerntrendkill]

The most important national defense is a well armed citizenry!

And if you read the Constitution:

Article. 1. Section 8. To Raise and Support Armies..., To Provide and maintain a Navy, To provide for the calling forth the the Militia...

Its all there and I'm sure Dr. Paul will follow it to the letter. Excuse me President Paul.

[icon57]

Just as the declining British and French empires had to withdraw their forces from around the globe, the US will soon have no choice. Financial pressures and the coming economic crisis will not allow us to sustain our broad military presence for long. We can still be a great nation without policing the world or having a superpower status. We should look to countries like Switzerland as a model and remain neutral, not war mongerors like the neocons make us.

[EvilEngineer]

Did anybody ever notice we got NUKES!!!!!



Not only do we have nukes... we have ICBMs. We don't need bases or launch stations around the world. We have world wide strike capabilities without having to ever leave home.

[jesshwarren]

Then what???? Good deal think of how much money we can save. Bring the troops home!!! Now we are talking HOME LAND SECURITY. Lets keep e'm on our own turf. GO RON PAUL GO GO.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

"Ron Paul Supporters: Paul would like to bring the troops home from ALL around the world...then what?
What does Paul propose to do once they are brought home?

What do you think they should do?"

Train and defend the nation from foreign threats. What do you think? I think we should keep the quality high and always upgrade it whenever possible.

[Corydoras]

but what about our bases and stuff? why withdraw? sorry I support Paul 100% I'm just a bit confused on how I explain these things to possible new supporters?

Have you actually been asked this question by possible new supporters, or do you need to be prepared to (live in a town with lots of military), or are you simply trying to explain too much?

The answers people have been giving you are good, but remember that you don't have to explain everything to possible new supporters. Let them get intrigued enough to find out more on their own and discover their own reasons for supporting him, instead of offering them things they can object to.