ONLY AN EMPIRE NEEDS BASES

At its zenith, the Roman Empire used military bases to assert its power in lands it conquered and Britain later did the same in its colonies. That appears to be the aim of the Pentagon, which has continued to build and expand military bases across the globe a time when the Obama administration is heralding a withdrawal from Iraq and a planned exit from Afghanistan.
In Iraq alone, the slow withdrawal has not prevented the Pentagon from planning for a future military presence in the country by updating some of the bases there to add clout to a large CIA presence housed in the world’s largest embassy in Baghdad. There is even talk of building a similar embassy in Afghanistan, as well as hardened sites to accommodate a reduced U.S. military presence well beyond the projected pull-out.
It is difficult to find an exact figure for the number of overseas military, naval and air bases, or to discover the cost of maintaining them. It is estimated there may be upwards of 1,000 known bases, with additional installations listed only on highly classified files. Among some of the overseas secret installations are CIA black ops centers and private prisons.
The sheer reach of the U.S. military complex is immense, especially in the Middle East where there are bases of varying sizes in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Israel. Qatar, which has 200,000 citizens and twice as many foreign workers, has become a major U.S. military hub. Its Al Udeid air base is a major cog for handling intelligence gleaned from satellite and AWACs. Some operations previous dealt with at the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia have been moved to Qatar. Plans are believed to be under way to establish new facilities in Morocco and Algeria in order to further extend the U.S. reach in that part of the world. Nowhere in the Middle East, or the Horn of Africa, is insignificant when it comes to the eyes of Pentagon planners. A case in point would be the expanded naval base, Camp Lemonier, in the tiny nation of Djibouti, located between Yemen and Somalia.
Aside from strategic significance, the U.S. military presence in many countries has gone hand in hand with weapons sales. For example, Saudi Arabia is reputed to have spent up to $20 billion over several decades. Also rarely mentioned are secret supply centers for use in the event of conflict in various parts of the globe. For example, the Pentagon has financed the construction of underground weapons bunkers in countries like Israel, Jordan and Bahrain where a major naval project is close to completion. There are many new bases too in Eastern Europe, especially in areas formerly part of the Soviet Union. In all, there are few places across the globe where one cannot detect an American military footprint. One of the startling things about this empire basing mentality is the American people are never consulted and are rarely informed about the construction of overseas bases and their staggering costs. It should not be surprising to anyone that most overseas installations are close to countries with energy resources.
That means the Obama administration will be keeping a watching eye on the continuing unrest in on the Middle East. Any sign of trouble in Saudi Arabia would undoubtedly set alarm bells ringing in Washington because the House of Saud sits on the world’s largest oil reserves. Israel too would be concerned about a threat to the Saudi royals since they have had their tacit support to use Saudi airspace to bomb Iran. In fact, the House of Saud has pleaded with Israel and the U.S. to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and its military infrastructure.
If there was political unrest in Saudi Arabia from the country’s Shia minority, the Saudi military would stamp it out and it is unlikely the Obama White House would defend the protesters as it did when people took to the streets in Cairo. The hard fact is Tel Aviv and Washington care more about Saudi’s royal despots than they ever did Mubarak. The House of Saud holds the energy card and will be the major Arab player with Mubarak gone. When all is said and done, the Saudi royals, who are Sunni Arabs, see everything in black and white, even religion. They preach hatred against Shias, who are Persian, and are not especially keen on Christians either. It is always their way or the highway and they play tough. They once told their friends, Dick Cheney and George Bush if the U.S. ever pulled all its troops out of Iraq they would arm Iraq’s Sunnis.