Thanks for coming by for a read, readers.
I was talking to an old guy in town the other day about how lucky the US is to have good, strong allies in this dangerous world.
Him: Not many countries have been that lucky. A lot of them hardly have any allies at all.
Me: Good point. Korea’s a good example. If we didn’t have Korea for an ally there’s no telling what would have happened to Japan. North Korea always threatening to nuke Japan, and all.
Him: That’s right. We have to keep a lot of troops over there to keep the North Koreans from invading our ally, South Korea, and nuking Japan. Old Dugout Doug MacArthur had it right when he said, “Korea’s a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan.”
Me: Yeah. Costs a lot, but it’s worth it to protect a good ally. Too bad Japan and Korea don’t have more friends and allies, though. They’re rich as hell and if some other country could help protect them we could bring some of our troops home.
Him: No way we can do that though. We’d no sooner pull our troops out than someone would be going after Japan.
Me: Well, I suppose it might not be so tempting before too long. A nuke from North Korea won’t add much to what’s already there the way things are going. And invading a country wouldn’t be much fun if the invading troops have to wear radiation suits to keep from being poisoned by radiation.
Him: They are good allies though. Korea and Japan, both. I’d hate to see us have to get by without having them for allies. They’ve done a lot for us. Korea and Japan both.
Me: I’m glad too. It’s a scary world out there. Without good allies like Korea and Japan things would be a lot scarier. But we’re lucky we don’t have more. I don’t think we could afford it.
Old Jules
So Far From Heaven 
The U.S. has bought and paid for a few allies. Sort of like a rich man paying for a body guard.
Hi DizzyDick: Interesting analogy. Ambiguous though as to who’s the rich guy and who’s the bodyguard. Fluid dynamics isn’t my bag. Gracias, J
That’s a for sure! We can’t.
So far, in history, we have not had a paid ally come to our aid. I reckon that could be a good thing. Guess it means that they have needed more aid than we have. I reckon that is good also.
I just do not want to ponder the outcome of what would happen if the good old US had a misfortune today. Who would step up in our fold of paid allies?
I reckon a non paid ally would most likely come to our aid than a paid ally, as most of our paid allies pray to Gods other than “Our Sun God” that as native and free and accepted Americans we have been tagged as chosen.
Still not sure on this… must ponder further on our investments in allies and the general discussion on “What is God”
Hi Eddie: Seems unclear to me whether the US has ever had an actual ally except when the alliance served their own best interests. I can’t think of any at the moment. Probably the ‘US’ is fairly confused as to the nature of its own best interests …. certainly there’s no consensus … just internal struggles for power among factions each attempting to further their own improved power or well-being. The concept of multi-national banks, corporations, and individual ‘dual-citizenships’ are part of a far larger package eroding whatever abstractions might have once applied to define something with a label, United States.
As for the nature of God, probably if the question were an important one human beings wouldn’t have known so much, so early, as to close down their minds to gathering evidence through direct observation. That closing down of minds has led to just about every imaginable definition of God and dieties without anything approaching unanimity on the subject. And most of the definitions are espoused by people other people wouldn’t trust on any important matter, down to buying a used car from them. Thanks for the reply. Gracias, Jack
LOL! The best government money can buy, buys the best allies money can buy…
Sometimes you bring out the cynic in me.
Good morning KMABarrett: Sorry about that. gracias, J
No apologies necessary. It was refreshing! 🙂
Such are the fortunes of empire. Roman, Ottoman, British, American, etc.
Swabby: It all does rhyme. J
Unless you count the Egypt-Israel peace treaty as a benefit to us, the Coalition of Gulf War I that paid for the U.S. involvement so it didn’t hammer our economy, South Korea’s aid in Vietnam and countless UN peacekeeping operations, etc.
Depends on what one defines as “come to our aid,” perhaps.
Definitely it depends on that Ed. Could any of those qualify as unpaid by any but the most carefully contrived definition of the word? Gracias, J