WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES AMERICA--Get the f..k out of Europe

LEAVING EUROPE. About time. If there is anything about which Ron Paul is right on, it is reducing our footprint in foreign lands. We are bigtime stupid in this area. Why, for instance, has it taken this long to start moving out of Europe. Well, the ready answer is probably the "Cold War." I'm not going to dispute such but I can tell you this for a fact, it is now damn time. Even In the early seventies, it was not without it's problems. I was a soldier in Europe then and it was not good. American soldiers resided in substandard barracks while the Germans, at that time, having conscription, lived in new facilities. I use to think, "what is wrong with this picture: here we are suppose to be protecting the Germans from the Soviets and yet we are second class citizens." And, it was one of those subjects no one talked about. Damn straight. A tough time. Our American military was struggling with issues of racism while drugs were rampant. The draft was on its last legs and the Vietnam war was all but wound down. A hell of a hard time. And, add to this some uncaring and stupid decisions by those who made and carried out policies that related to the military. One specific one created an untenable situation where, even today, we are dealing with the fallout. Scores of Vietnam soldiers with a few months to do before discharge were sent to Europe to fill out the ranks. It was a gastly mistake. These Vietnam soldiers were expected to "soldier" when in fact, they were jaded with war. Many crashed and burned, mainly through drugs or other types of insubordination. To the active military's discredit, soldiers who had done their duty were simply and unceremously hung out to dry. The reputation of the Vietnam soldier was forever sullied as being a dope head or worst still, the Vietnam war was somehow directly his fault. Shameful is what can be said. LEAVING EUROPE IS LONG OVERDUE.