750 Bases in 80 Countries Is Too Many for Any Nation: Time for the US To Bring Its Troops Home

Although the number of US facilities has fallen in half since the end of the Cold War, the number of nations hosting American bases has doubled.

"These bases are costly in a number of ways: financially, politically, socially, and environmentally. US bases in foreign lands often raise geopolitical tensions, support undemocratic regimes, and serve as a recruiting tool for militant groups opposed to the US presence and the governments its presence bolsters. In other cases, foreign bases are being used and have made it easier for the United States to launch and execute disastrous wars, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya."

Perhaps the most serious price of endless bases has been endless wars.

Observed the Quincy study: "Since 1980, US bases in the greater Middle East have been used at least 25 times to launch wars or other combat actions in at least 15 countries in that region alone. Since 2001, the US military has been involved in combat in at least 25 countries worldwide."

Such areas are not exactly foreign, but the Quincy report contended that the heavy base presence "Helped perpetuate their colonial relationship with the rest of the United States and their peoples' second class US citizenship."

In appropriate cases the US could replace its bases with emergency access to foreign facilities to deal with unexpected contingencies.

The impact of the Soviet collapse and Warsaw Pact dissolution was too great not to have eliminated some US facilities, but otherwise the Pentagon has been reluctant to leave existing bases.

https://original.antiwar.com/doug-bandow/2021/10/03/750-bases-in-80-countries-is-too-many-for-any-nation-time-for-the-us-to-bring-its-troops-home/