# US military bases in other nations: worth the cost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875 "2011-04-10T16:04:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/21 "2011-04-12T01:26:25Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > God know I hate to extend this, but where did you come up with the estimate of a trillion dollars worth of minerals? See my cite in post #8 above. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/22 "2011-04-12T02:06:57Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > I would really like to agree with you, but I have to believe there are at least a few hundred billion dollars of profit to be had on a trillion dollars worth of minerals. Certainly the common people will rarely see much of it. But you don’t need to expend 100 billion dollars in fancy wars to recover just 10 billions. It is smarter to use foreign investment. Anyways, superpowers don’t realize how deep in trouble they are before they get broke. It has happened several times in history, but societies never learn. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/23 "2011-04-12T02:09:17Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I am perfectly content in showing our military muscles. Sometimes we don’t have much else to stand on. 😕 > > Question - would U.S. intelligence be as good as it is without these installments? U.S. intelligence is an oxymoron. Remember the “weapons of mass destruction”? It is amazing how easy the U.S. government fools its people. Check the budget: half of it goes in playing John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/24 "2011-04-12T02:25:31Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The ChiComs and the Indians are building up their militaries though. ChiCom is an antiquidated cold war warrior term that wasn’t exactly endearing. Not only that, it’s wildly inaccurate as there are hardly any real communists in the wild wild west of unbridled capitalism that is the majority of China today. PRC, The Chinese, Mainland Chinese are all inoffensive terms that have the added bonus of being more accurate. Thanks in advance for your cooperation, Curtis. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/25 "2011-04-12T03:20:42Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > But you don’t need to expend 100 billion dollars in fancy wars to recover just 10 billions. It is smarter to use foreign investment. > > Anyways, superpowers don’t realize how deep in trouble they are before they get broke. It has happened several times in history, but societies never learn. Do large corporations care how much government money is spent making an area safe to do business in? I think not. You say you are from Chile as if that should have some bearing on the discussion. So what? I’m from Wyoming, which leads the States in coal production. We have several other large mineral deposits as well. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/26 "2011-04-12T03:31:33Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > U.S. intelligence is an oxymoron. Remember the “weapons of mass destruction”? > > It is amazing how easy the U.S. government fools its people. Check the budget: half of it goes in playing John Wayne. U.S. intelligence is not an oxymoron. “U.S.” and “intelligence” are not two contradictory terms. May I point out to you that \*giving false information \* is not the same as _acquiring bad information_? Iraq did have WMD in the 90s, but anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875/27 "2011-04-12T14:15:50Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > U.S. intelligence is not an oxymoron. “U.S.” and “intelligence” are not two contradictory terms. May I point out to you that \*giving false information \* is not the same as _acquiring bad information_? > > Iraq did have WMD in the 90s, but anyway. H. L. Mencken said, accurately imho, that no one ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the American people. There is one hell of a lot of ignorance to be fought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-military-bases-in-other-nations-worth-the-cost/577875.md?page=1)