Rotating rationales always justify keeping any base open

Evidence

The result has often been a series of rotating rationales to justify a base’s continued existence and, often, expansion. A large number of decades-old bases have remained open, often with vague or dubious justifications. “Arguments can always be raised to justify keeping almost any facility open,” the subcommittee concluded. “To the military, a contingency use can always be found. To the diplomat, a base closing or reduction can always be at the wrong time in terms of relations with the host country and other nations.” (At a psychological level, too, we can understand that few people would want to see something they’ve worked on declared “superfluous.”) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 789

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘wrong time to close’ rationale echoes arguments against any government program cut, connecting to sunk-cost fallacy and institutional inertia literature.