…That policy which pretends to aspire to peace but unerringly generates war, the policy of continual preparation for war, the policy of meddlesome interventionism. There was no corner of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were those of Rome’s allies; and if Rome had no allies, then allies would be invented. When it was utterly impossible to contrive such an interest — why, then it was the national honor that had been insulted. The fight was always invested with an aura of legality. Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbors, always fighting for a breathing space. The whole world was pervaded by a host of enemies, and it was manifestly Rome’s duty to guard against their indubitably aggressive designs
- Joseph Schumpeter (and quoted by Michael Parenti)
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I am legitimately curious what 46 troops over 2 bases are accomplishing. I mean, obviously nothing but I wonder what they are supposed to accomplish.
Is it just so CIA assets have staging grounds in south america?
I’m also wondering what the ~50,000 people in Japan are doing all day.
They are largely in Okinawa. As a resident of Japan, from my observations:
Assaulting the locals, murdering the locals, sexually assaulting the locals, getting very loudly drunk and doing one of the previous, getting very drunk and driving in local towns, dropping things from helicopters on local schools.They also do joint drills with the Japanese Self-Defense Force, but a lot of those drills are not functionally very useful given Article 9 of our constitution. Technically we changed our position towards collective self-defense (to allow it) a few years back, but it has never come up in an actual engagement.
They did some assistance during the Fukushima disaster to be fair (about 20% of the troops stationed), but the vast majority didn’t. Many of them were focused on evacuating their own families stationed in Japan, which accounts for another 7000 people not included in that 50,000 number. Those that did assist explicitly did not go anywhere near the areas that needed the most help (like Fukushima itself).
“145 members of special units called the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) were dispatched to Japan, but their activities were limited to outside the 80-km radius from the Fukushima nuclear power plant; they went back home after staying for three weeks without doing anything other than waiting at the far area from the nuclear power plant.”
Short Answer: Nothing Useful.
Article 9 of our constitution
Ironic given the U.S. was the one that commandeered the creation of said constitution
It really is; they wrote the entire thing and now are the biggest advocate for us to change it.
I am disappointed, but not surprised.
let’s be fair here, some of them also pollute the water supply with PFAS.
They are developing new advancements in the fields of racism and misogyny.
That’s where we get our used women’s underwear.
Is it just so CIA assets have staging grounds in south america?
this sounds the most likely, they did this all the time during the cold war
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That’s where we get our cocaine.
It’s most likely a joint drug taskforce.
EDIT:
Actually, I think most of these are troops deployed on United Nations peacekeeping assignments. Thats the only way Japan makes sense.Nevermind, this is US troop deployments.The 50,000 we have here is actually all US troops, nothing UN-related about them. We just are that heavily occupied. It is consistently the single biggest topic for Okinawan politics because of all the problems they cause locally.
Oh I read the map wrong, I thought that was other countries deployments, as in JSDF troops deployed in peacekeeping missions.
Oh man, imagine if 50,000 JSDF troops were stationed in the US or something.
United States of Wars
That’s where we get our sadness.
guantanamo bay has the torture number
That’s where we get our rocks off.
Damn, must be a party in Peru.
…
okay who has the jakarta method and killing hope links
You just gave me two more books to read!
I don’t understand why there are foreign military bases in other countries. Do they serve a purpose other than imperialism? Do they act like embassies for visitors? It just seems very odd to me.
it’s just colonialism
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So you see, as someone with a heart and soul I view using the military for purposes such as securing minerals and raw materials as a huge waste and downright stupid. Wouldn’t diplomats and form of “Soft Power” be better suited for this area?
When it comes to what military bases are used for in other parts of the world, specifically for preparing war against China and escalations with Russia, I have no real alternative except maybe just don’t do that. Take your troops back home and leave everyone alone. It’s naive and maybe juvenile but so is putting basses around the world to provoke violence.
One of the most frustrating things as a communist is seeing so many resources that could be used for common good being devoted to fucking colonialism
It’s unfortunate people still buy into the whole “fighting for your freedom” thing.
Is this complete? I would be sure it was a base in Colombia.
No, the map was selected highlights (doesn’t add to 750 if you look at numbers even approximately)
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The people of Ryukyu (Okinawa), which are already occupied once by Japan, do not want the US there. This is a regular subject of protests in the region, and the single largest defining aspect of politics. The current governor of Okinawa is staunchly against the US occupation of his territory because they cause endless hardship for the locals. US soldiers continue to kill and rape innocent people here on a regular basis.
You will be hard-pressed to find people here that are excited about the US military bases, outside the US lapdogs in the government. If we held a referendum on the topic tomorrow, it would probably be the biggest voter turnout Japan has ever seen.
South Korea is basically the same, albeit with even more sexual assaults than we have to deal with.
You realise this map also includes Cuba, Germany, ROK, Japan, Kuwait, Italy, and Peru?
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cuba, well known for loving american troops on their soil
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caused the whole world to suffer
In addition to what others have already said, this line in particular is complete bullshit. The vast majority of the world doesn’t care about Ukraine in any way beyond “war is bad,” and indeed a large chunk of the global south has expressed that the war is entirely the West’s fault for provoking Russia constantly since the collapse of the USSR. The only people suffering from the war are in Ukraine, Russia, or any of a number of European nations that were strong-armed into shutting off their access to Russian fossil fuels by the US so American oil companies could dominate the energy markets in that region of the world at the expense of workers who saw their utility bills go up 4x overnight.
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Okay I get the crimes, its a war of two emerging capitalist states sending their people to die for senseless nationbuilding
but dear god how do you say that about the US and think you’re the enlightened one here.
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