U.S. Military Bases abroad: a bane or a boon? The United States of America with over 800 bases overseas has become a “base nation” as David Vine calls it in his famous book Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World. The problem is that no one knows how many of these military bases the U.S. have. The rough estimate is somewhere between 750 and 800, however, the official records by the Department of Defense do not show the real number because of the different terms used to call those military installations. The U.S. government avoids using “base” because of the negative connotation it carries, as for instance, “Manas” transit center in Kyrgyzstan which was the only military base in Central Asia and crucial for maneuvering
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The cost to maintain installations and troops overseas including those in Iraq and Afghanistan is approximately $156 billion. According to the RAND Corporation, “even when host countries like Japan and Germany cover some of the costs, US taxpayers still pay an annual average of $10,000 to $40,000 per year to station a member of the military abroad than in the United States” (Vine). But are these numbers reasonable and is it worth to contribute into something that might not bring results but vice versa aggravate the already tense situation? In his book Base Politics: Democratic Change and the U.S. Military Overseas Alexander Cooley describes the Karshi-Khanabad air base (K2) in Uzbekistan which the U.S. operated to support missions against al-Qaeda in neighboring Afghanistan. This military base was set up in October 2001 following 9/11 events. Initially, the U.S. paid $15 million for use of the airfield, later, adding $120 million for military hardware and surveillance equipment to the Uzbek army, $82 million to the country 's security services, and $55 million in credits from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Cooley 86). In return, they asked the Uzbek government and its current president Islam Karimov to ensure the acceleration of democratization, improvement of human rights record, and giving more freedom to press. However, the Uzbek government failed to fulfill its commitments and the U.S. did not take any actions against it. They turned a blind eye to the whole situation, and a lot of critics say that it was just a waste of money and was not even necessary to the campaign in Afghanistan. Another example of the huge money expenditure on the military bases is the Iraq construction camp. In the book The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle against U.S. Military Posts, Tom Engelhardt described the U.S. military bases in Iraq. One of the bases that
The cost to maintain installations and troops overseas including those in Iraq and Afghanistan is approximately $156 billion. According to the RAND Corporation, “even when host countries like Japan and Germany cover some of the costs, US taxpayers still pay an annual average of $10,000 to $40,000 per year to station a member of the military abroad than in the United States” (Vine). But are these numbers reasonable and is it worth to contribute into something that might not bring results but vice versa aggravate the already tense situation? In his book Base Politics: Democratic Change and the U.S. Military Overseas Alexander Cooley describes the Karshi-Khanabad air base (K2) in Uzbekistan which the U.S. operated to support missions against al-Qaeda in neighboring Afghanistan. This military base was set up in October 2001 following 9/11 events. Initially, the U.S. paid $15 million for use of the airfield, later, adding $120 million for military hardware and surveillance equipment to the Uzbek army, $82 million to the country 's security services, and $55 million in credits from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Cooley 86). In return, they asked the Uzbek government and its current president Islam Karimov to ensure the acceleration of democratization, improvement of human rights record, and giving more freedom to press. However, the Uzbek government failed to fulfill its commitments and the U.S. did not take any actions against it. They turned a blind eye to the whole situation, and a lot of critics say that it was just a waste of money and was not even necessary to the campaign in Afghanistan. Another example of the huge money expenditure on the military bases is the Iraq construction camp. In the book The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle against U.S. Military Posts, Tom Engelhardt described the U.S. military bases in Iraq. One of the bases that