U.S. bases loaded for empire

In February 2007, the noted military analyst Chalmers Johnson’s then new book, Nemesis: the Last Days of the American Empire, claimed “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: and by following the changing politics of global basing, one can learn much about our ever more all-encompassing imperial ‘footprint’ and the militarism that grows with it.”

He added, “It is not easyto assess the size of exact value of our empire of bases. Official records available to the public on these subjects are misleading although instructive. According to the Defense Department’s annual inventories from 2002–2005 of real property it owns around the world, The Base Structure Report, there has been an immense churning in the numbers of installations.”

Back when Chalmers was writing, the official number of bases in other people’s countries was 737. After Bush and Iraq were over, the number had gone up significantly. A few pages of Chalmers book was excerpted in, 737 U.S. Military Bases=Global Empire from alternet.org and quoted Chalmers writing, “With more than 2,500,000 U.S. personnel serving across the planet and military bases spread across each continent, it’s time to face up to the fact that our American democracy has spawned a global empire.” (Italics mine.) I’ll say. Read More