“...do you complain about having troops in Germany, Okinawa or South Korea? “
Yes I do. Especially when the “host” countries don’t pony up their fair share.
Japan, because of North Korea and China, are now ready to build back their military.
In 2011 when we pulled out, I was in favor of pulling more troops out of Germany and sending the troop savings there to Iraq. Putin and the Ukraine changed that calculation. Last week was the first British troops of an estimated 800 being forward deployed to Estonia. There are other NATO countries (including the U.S.) that are taking part in more exercises in central European countries like Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
Now is not the time for America to disengage from the world. Every time we have done that in the past 100 + years, it has ended in catastrophe. We need to have a proper show of force and work with our allies to prevent possible upcoming catastrophes in central Europe, Middle East and the Orient. If managed properly, I believe the world will not go over the edge. If not, I shutter to think of the consequences.
You can say that is Europe/Asia/Middle Easts problems, but before long their problems always end up being our problems. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as they say. You want to have our country fall from Superpower status? Be involved in endless war, it’s a sure way to second country status. We need to be in the business of preventing wars right now.