During the Iraq war, anti-war activists were fond of saying, “Bring the troops home.” Many of them were Europeans who believed withdrawl of American forces from Iraq would end the war and humble America at the same time. At the time, I thought we should do so, and publically suggested we begin by bringing home all American troops currently stationed anywhere in Europe. Better yet, redeploy some of them to Iraq in order to increase our military presence there. I think we would have seen very quickly some significantly revised opinions in Europe. Not only would American defense have to be replaced with local military, the effects on local economies would have likely been severe with no more Americans and their generous spending habits.