750 overseas bases not enough for Uncle Sam
Our dear ol’ Uncle Sam can’t get enough military bases even tho they exceed 750 in 80 countries (not including the ones we don’t know about.
Since the end of WWII when America became the strongest country ever, he’s been collecting military bases faster than William Randolph Hearst collected art treasures for Sam Simeon.
Seventy-six years after defeating Germany and Japan, America still has 119 bases in those now allies. The combined military bases of the UK, France, Russia and Turkey total only 200, less than a third of the U.S.
But while we’ve encircled our 21st century imaginary rival China with numerous bases, China has the staggering worldwide total of just…5.
America squanders $55 billion yearly to maintain those 750 bases. That’s more than the budget of our entire State Department, clearly demonstrating the U.S. prefers military bluster to diplomacy.
U.S. military bases likely do more harm than good in protecting the homeland. They block the spread of democracy in 38 non-democratic nations as we help maintain the status quo there to ensure their safety. They do environmental harm, damage America’s reputation among the masses by their very presence, create crime; even were part of the motivation for the 911 attacks.
But rather than shedding this utter waste of valuable treasure, Uncle Sam is on a buying spree, teaming up with Far East ally Australia to develop 4 new bases in Northern Australia against this decades’ bête noir China. Australian National Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo warned “The drums of war were beating amid growing tensions on the global stage."
When Citizen Hearst was going bankrupt during the Depression, his creditors forced him to auction off his 15,000 piece art collection. It took up two floors of a New York department store. Alas, there are no U.S. creditors powerful enough, and no department store big enough to force Uncle Sam to begin liquidating his collection of military bases spread out over 80 countries on 6 continents.
The ‘drums of war’ may be beating, but it’s Uncle Sam’s pounding on them like a frenzied Gene Krupa.
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