by Kerul Dyer
It’s hard to quantify the scale and scope of the US military empire as its presence spans the globe with more than 750 bases in at least 80 countries. Top secret missions, drone strikes, training of foreign soldiers, and movement of munitions and weapons of war into various conflict zones regularly happen with little or no congressional oversight. Massive scale war games, in the form of joint military exercises on land and in our oceans happen every day in some form, all out of the public eye. The flex of the US military muscle dominates regional disputes to further the interests of the US and its allies around the world. All of this is in the name of US national security, and as American taxpayers, we foot the bill.
To offer a glimpse of the geographic dominance that US bases generate, World Without War created an interactive map that allows users to scroll around the earth and click on individual pins marking the locations of verified US outposts. While information about many of the bases is incomplete, it does offer a rough sketch of where the US operates and concentrates military resources regionally. Information about the bases are verified through multiple sources. This includes publicly available infrared data generated by widespread use of an exercise tracker application that inadvertently showed the routes people jogged at top secret US outposts (see New York Times coverage).
Congressional reporting about US military interventions and operations are sadly incomplete in 2023, as only a small number of Congressional offices receive the semi-annual, mandated DOD briefings. It would be pure speculation to know whether those even present a full picture of ongoing covert operations abroad. This lack of reporting and oversight may be one of the consequences of initiatives and war authorizations put into place under President George W. Bush after the events of September 11, 2001. While none of this may come as a surprise to an informed reader, the direct impacts of US militarism are less felt by most American citizens as compared to those living in the shadow of massive defense infrastructure and soldiers stationed in communities around the world.
The movement of thousands of soldiers, tanks and jets, ships and submarines, and munitions – even nuclear-equipped warheads – happens on a daily basis, but rarely makes headlines, here or abroad. A recent protest in the Netherlands brought forward one such move, where it is known that the US has stationed nuclear weapons in Northern Europe because of NATO’s nuclear sharing program. Readers may also be surprised to learn that tens of thousands of US soldiers were moved into Poland and Romania in early February 2022, in ready form to support Ukraine with ground troops if the US or NATO deemed it necessary. That of course is in addition to the $113 Billion in US military aid to Ukraine in 2022.
Interoperability is a key term that, in the eyes of military strategists, provides exponentially more capacity for defending US economic and security interests. And it is not a small task to work in tandem with foreign militaries effectively. Interoperability, more than any other point seems to be the justification for spending billions of dollars each year on environmentally destructive “war games.” One researcher listed the major, publicly announced International joint military exercises by month. August was a relatively light month this year, with only ten major operations involving a dozen countries. In June, 2023, 26 joint military exercises occurred, in Africa, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Europe, and in the US.
How must it feel to live in a location where one of these events happens? Where live fire and massive battle ships are being used to train soldiers and prepare for the next war? How much does it cost?
There do exist many reliable sources of information that investigate how the US military operates and influences governments and trade groups around the world. One of those is the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, who published a report in 2021 titled, “Drawdown: Improving U.S. and Global Security Through Military Base Closures Abroad.” Another organization called the Brennon Institute issued a report titled Secret War, and advocates that Congress should take action to rein in the common US practice of partnering with foreign governments that have led to unauthorized hostilities – countering the basic principles of democratic governance.
