America's Role in the World

This week, Obama announced an increased military presence in Australia. Now, for those of us who are educated in the past century of America's involvement over the world, something like this should come as no surprise. But especially now, at a time when the American government is over 15 trillion dollars in debt and counting, we must question ourselves: What is America's role in the world?

I came across an interesting article that puts the American involvement in Australia into perspective. The article can be viewed here. It really shows how the United States military maneuvers are viewed with suspicion all over the world, and although some people might stand with the U.S. military, there are always some that don't.

I think many people in America have gotten paranoid over possible threats from other countries. Many, especially on the right side of the political spectrum, use this as an excuse to invade and station our troops in more and more countries over the world. Currently, we have bases in over 120 countries over the world for a total of approximately seven or eight hundred bases. Is this a proper role of the U.S. military? Has the military become more of a tool for invasions and securing special interests than actually protecting American lives?

At a time when the "super committee" in congress is expected to come out with the information that they were unable to come up with the sufficient amount of cuts, it seems incredible to me that Obama ignores the debt and continues to station troops all around the world. I mean, do we really need to spend more on the military than all the other countries in the world combined?

What are your thoughts? You can address any of the questions raised above.