U.S. military bases overseas

U.S. military bases overseas: The U.S. has over 700 military bases in over 120 countries around the world. Chalmers Johnson, author of The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic and NEMESIS: The Last Days of the American Republic, says that, "As distinct from other peoples, most Americans do not recognize -- or do not want to recognize -- that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, our citizens are often ignorant of the fact that our garrisons encircle the planet."

Overview
Some statements from Chalmers Johnson:


 * According to the Washington Post, in Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, waiters in white shirts, black pants, and black bow ties serve dinner to the officers of the 82nd Airborne Division in their heavily guarded compound, and the first Burger King has already gone up inside the enormous military base we've established at Baghdad International Airport.


 * Some of these bases are so gigantic they require as many as nine internal bus routes for soldiers and civilian contractors to get around inside the earthen berms and concertina wire.


 * Once upon a time, you could trace the spread of imperialism by counting up colonies. America's version of the colony is the military base.


 * The only way this is discussed in our press is via reportage on highly arcane plans for changes in basing policy and the positioning of troops abroad -- and these plans, as reported in the media, cannot be taken at face value.


 * In addition, we plan to keep under our control the whole northern quarter of Kuwait -- 1,600 square miles out of Kuwait's 6,900 square miles -- that we now use to resupply our Iraq legions and as a place for Green Zone bureaucrats to relax.

A few of the countries with U.S. military bases

 * Afghanistan
 * Germany
 * Iraq
 * Israel
 * Japan
 * Jordan
 * Kuwait
 * Kyrgyzstan
 * Qatar
 * Serbia
 * South Korea
 * Turkey
 * United Kingdom
 * Uzbekistan

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Imperialism
 * Military-industrial complex
 * Permanent U.S. bases in Iraq

External articles

 * "U.S. Military Bases and Empire", Monthly Review, March 2002.
 * David Isenberg, "The ever-growing US military footprint", Asia Times, June 10, 2003.
 * Medea Benjamin, "A New Network Forms to Close U.S. Overseas Military Bases", CommonDreams.org, March 12, 2007.