Bring 'em Home... Bring Them all Home.

Growing up in the 80's surrounded by military neighbors, I learned that Ronald Reagan was a President who wanted a strong America.  He boosted the military budget, he increased our reach in Europe, and most importantly, this show of strength won the Cold War. I learned this from the older male influences in my life.  These men were the fathers of my best friends and classmates.  They were career military men.  Many were veterans of the Vietnam War, some were Korean War veterans. Reagan made the lives better for these men and their families.  Salaries increased, and the outdated Korean and Vietnam War era equipment was replaced.  And spending increased, and spending increased, and spending increased....

No missiles were fired in the triumph over the Soviets during the Cold War.  We just out spent them, and overwhelmed them with displays of advanced technology, which the Soviets could not afford.

Missile defense "had less impact on the industry than many might think," Augustine said. "Although it was a highly publicized and certainly controversial program, in the grand scheme of defense spending it wasn't that large, and much of it was spent on research and development, a relatively smaller part of the defense budget."

The people it really affected were the Soviets, he said. "They were much more convinced we could make it work than many of us were, frankly, and certainly more than much of our media."

The Soviets felt they couldn't keep up with such technology, Augustine said, and came to believe that Reagan would spend more on weapons than they could ever match -- pushing them to effectively surrender in the Cold War. 

 - Norman R. Augustine, former chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp.

My point is this, we beat the Soviets of the 80's by out spending them.  We also didn't have the World Wide Web as we know it today.  It is not as easy to use smoke and mirrors to intimidate a foreign foe, unless they themselves are still on dial-up(See: North Korea).  Everybody is tapping everybody. All the major players have nuclear weapons, The U.S.A., Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, Venezuela, Columbia, and maybe even Mexico. We are currently in a chess match with Russia, long gone is the weakened Soviet empire.  Russia is a proud country led by it's charismatic, ex-KGB agent leader, Vladimir Putin. They also have something that we don't have here in America, nationalistic pride. That nationalistic pride is what may allow Putin to push his supposed agenda to reunite the Soviet Union.

We out spent them before, and we are currently out spending them, but it can't continue like this. We can't continue to sustain the lifestyle we have become accustomed here in America while maintaining our place at the top of the hill.  With the end of the Cold War the power dynamics in the world changed.  Instead of two strong powers threatening to wipe each other off the map, the United States rose to the top of the totem pole of power.  To the victor goes the spoils right? Well, not exactly, we just ended up getting the duties of fulfilling the worlds "to-do" lists. We police the world, and it costs a lot of money to maintain that policing force.

My fear is that an escalation with Russia will lead to another world war.  A fight with Russia is a fight with North Korea, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan or India(whoever we don't support) and many of the Central and South American nations. We haven't been a good cop over the past 14 years in the eye of the world.  We have a lot of enemies.  The Russians have been patient, and they know we are vulnerable.  We are, and to be honest we have more important problems here at home.

 I think it's time to close up our bases over-seas, and bring all of the troops home, and let the rest of the world figure it out themselves. That's all we can do, because unless we created the government, nobody is asking for our help anymore.

Additional Reading:

How Vulnerable Are U.S. Troops in the Pacific?

Why is Iran Building a Mock U.S. Aircraft Carrier?

Russia Slams Germany For Halting Arms Deal Over Crimea

If Russia Swallows Ukraine the European System is Finished

I added this(3/31/14):

Turkey was trying to make a move on Syria recently.  A few weeks ago they blocked YouTube and Twitter, and it is thought that this leaked audio is the reason.  We set the precedent in 2003, when we went into Iraq to prevent future aggression from Saddam Hussein.  Preemptive action is what is was called.  Our past is coming to haunt us.  All the other countries want their land back.  And are looking for new and inventive ways or excuses to do it.  Unfortunately any action by one of our "allies" could pull us into a war.

VIDEO: leaked-turkish-war-plans-against-syria_news