Why does the US have 737 millitary bases around the world?

Question

There are right now 737 American military bases on every continent, in well over 130 countries.

Answer 1

smells like imperialism

Answer 2

It's market presence, like WalMart. It's about force projection, surveillance/awareness, and logistical siting for any potential military operations.

That's 737 on foreign land, 70 on US territories, and 2,569 in the US.

You can add up all the numbers in the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BASE STRUCTURE REPORT (A Summary of DoD's Real Property Inventory) for FY 05 at the link below. There are plenty of details there.

"The Department of Defense is one of the world’s largest “landlords” with a physical plant consisting of more than 571,900 facilities (buildings, structures and utilities) located on more than 3,740 sites, on nearly 30 million acres."

Of course, this is report only counts land and facilities openly owned or leased by the DoD, and does not include any sites to which the DoD has rights through basing agreements, nor does it account for any classified activities, covert intel presence, or basing involved in ongoing military activities.

Answer 3

Alrighty,

Your getting your source from alternet.com which is a socialist republic website and the democraticunderground.com which is a liberal blog site.

We do have 737 forts, camps, outposts, etc. worldwide. We do NOT have 737 Bases. What your not told is that these locations are leased and they provide for the hosting countries economy.

I am not going into the whol bit on what the host country is gaining, but we ASK to put it there and they let us. Bottom line.

Answer 4

The real reason is about projecting military power to quickly deal with a threat to national interests or the world at large. This has nothing to do with imperialism.

IMHO the 737 number is horribly overblown.

Answer 5

Its not that US wants to keep peace or protect any country, they are not that fools to put the burden on their economy for such reasons, its to maintain their power on every part of the world and to protect themselves...

by the way correct your numbers first, its seems from your numbers that US is giving franchisee of their military base to the interested parties...

Answer 6

On Agreement( Exception Cuba)under contract ! If a government
request their departure ...they have no choice but to comply!
I'm not sure about your numbers unless your including inside the states!

Answer 7

where did you get that number? Including Embassies?

You might wanna define "bases" too, I am sure there are military members in over 700 locations around the world, but are then on US installations in every case?

Answer 8

Because those countries have proven they cant defend themselves, or arent to be trusted. The ones in Europe are obviously because of WWII. The ones in Japan are also obviously because of WWII. The one in S Korea are because of N Korea, and S Korea doesnt mind.

Theyre just not randomly scattered around the globe, they have all been put there at certain times for certain reasons. Whether or not the country cant be trusted (because they let people like Hitler or Mussolini become in supreme power, or the Militarialist in Japan) or that they cant defend themselves (basically, Continental Europe)

Answer 9

we have the largest military budget than any other country in the world. we have to put them somewhere. flexing amercian muscle is the way to go, but better spent on infrastructure and population.

Answer 10

Why shouldn't we is the better question! We provide security for a lot of countries! What's your real point?

Answer 11

Because any time there is trouble, everyone looks to the US to bail them out.