In his Aug. 23 letter, "U.S. military presence is a shield," Ted Shaw informs us that the U.S. military presence in Japan constitutes a "shield" that effectively protects Japan from external threats. I had previously been under the impression that the U.S. basing system was designed as a global show of force to further U.S. global interests.
I am pleased to learn that the United States is, in fact, deploying its forces in such a benevolent fashion. This will come as particularly good news to all of those countries that currently have a U.S. military presence, some of which include: Australia, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Cuba, Diego Garcia, Djibouti, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Spain, Netherlands, Philippines, Turkey and the United Kingdom.