“America First”: Close Military Bases?

The U.S. has military bases in 80 countries. Should all of them close under Trump’s slogan of “America First”?

Rev. Martin Luther King, more than 50 years ago in a historic anti-war speech said “the Government of the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today”. King further insisted that “we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are ...more important than people...then racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered”.

The U.S. is not alone in military bases. Russia has an estimated 26 to 40 bases in 9 countries. The U.K., France and Turkey have 4 to 10 bases each and estimated 1 to 3 foreign bases are occupied by India, China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

More than 150,000 U.S. troops are positioned in nearby countries. They serve as deterrents, assurance to allies, or as stops along a global military supply chain. What about cost? According to a RAND report of 2013, the annual fixed cost of a base is about USD50-200 million. And the variable cost per person ranges from USD10,000 to USD40,000 per year.

David Swanson, an activist and author, observed that “modern imperialism is unique to the U.S.... Its destructive mission is imagined as sacred...we may have to learn to value other things including the other 96 per cent of humanity before the empire shuts down”.

What is the alternative? Strengthening and reforming the United Nations. A broader Security Council with no vetos for favoured nations and a strategic force at its disposal is a better solution to cost, rationale and morality. Unilateral action by the U.S. and American troops being above any international law/code reeks of neo-imperialism. The very values the U.S. is against!

References

1. The U.S. has military bases in 80 countries. All of them must close, Alice Slater,
(January 24, 2018) (www.thenation.com)

2. The Costs and Benefits of U.S. Military Bases Overseas, Luke Vargas (May 1, 2017) (www.talkmedianews.com)

3.  National Defense Research Institute (www.rand.org)