General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Ukraine: The Truth [View all]guillaumeb
(42,649 posts)One sources says 737:
http://www.alternet.org/story/47998/737_u.s._military_bases_%3D_global_empire
another says 1,077:
http://www.alternet.org/story/47998/737_u.s._military_bases_%3D_global_empire
Yet another says 5,300:
The US army has extended its military might to every continent except Antarctica. A Pentagon report in 2007 said there that while thirty-nine countries host only one military base, one hundred and forty countries contain more than one.. According to another report prepared by the Congress, the total number of the overseas bases is eight hundred and fifty. Including the bases within the US, the total number of military bases reaches 5300.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/118686/washingtons-long-arms-uss-overseas-military-bases
Regardless of which number you believe, and I personally would doubt the DoD, the US bases are outposts of Empire. They exist as force projection points so that the US can run the world. Or attempt to run the world.
As to military spending, US military spending is deliberately hidden among many agencies so that the US people have no real idea how much is spent. Even if one accepts the SIPRI numbers, what possible reason would justify the US military expenditures equaling 39% of the total expenditures?