One of the most important statements of the post-World War II era comes from the Policy Planning Study 23 document, written by George Kennan for the State Department planning staff in 1948:

In a single paragraph, Kennan derided "human rights," "democratization," and "standards of living conditions," and replaced them with the cold, callous concept of governance as a mere power struggle. Regrettably, Kennan wasn’t wrong. Today, America does very much "deal in straight power concepts" -- the concept of what East Asian scholar Chalmers Johnson regards as military imperialism. While most Americans may be unfamiliar with their country’s imperial goals, too many foreign peoples know too well about the "New Rome," which encompasses 1,000 military bases unofficially (737 officially) in over 40 countries. The White House, Pentagon, State Department, etc. claim that both our historical and current overseas military presence is to protect the US and create freedom for those with whom we partner. However, more than just Kennan’s account belie this assertion.

We can observe this doctrine of "full spectrum dominance" through the following three points.  One, the mere scope of our overseas military presence alone is staggering. Two, it has manifested itself in many presidential administrations, and the current Bush administration and its neoconservative base is no different as it has sought to merely "restructure" our global empire, not reduce it. Three, we must consider the consequences of our military imperialism. Through Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), which set forth the laws regarding whatever foreign occupation we are involved in, the United States has disregarded foreign people’s lives, infringed upon their human rights, and in some cases so altered their cities as to make them unrecognizable. Indeed, there is a lapse in our democratic values on account of our military empire that has no apparent end in sight. Although too many Americans are unaware of this phenomenon, the gravity of it cannot be ignored.

Scope of Our Overseas Military Bases

One must wonder: Does the sun never set on the American military empire, as it did not on the British Empire? If the means for achieving and maintaining a disparity of wealth and power over the rest of the world is literally watching over prospective competition, then we have certainly taken that necessary step with military bases all around the globe. The overwhelming majority of our 737 bases are located in Germany, Japan, and Korea, though this configuration of large hubs in fewer locations is currently giving way to a system of more numerous yet smaller, more maneuverable bases, which will be discussed later.

Based on fiscal year (FY) 2005 information, the Pentagon estimated our overseas bases at a net worth of $127 billion. In the inventory of the Base Structure Report (BSR), these bases encompass 32,327 barracks, hangars, hospitals, and other buildings and cover 687,347 acres abroad and 29,819,492 worldwide (including the United States and its territories). The United States is certainly "one of the world’s largest ‘landlords,’" as the Defense Department (DoD) boasts in the BSR introduction.

During FY 2005, these bases were operated by ghastly numbers of U.S. military personnel and foreign hires alike. Sent overseas were 196,975 uniformed personnel and an equal number of dependents and DoD civilian officials, and an additional 81,425 foreigners were hired. The total number of US military personnel worldwide, including those based domestically, was 1,840,062, along with 473,306 DoD civil service employees and 203,328 local hires. Though these numbers are dwarfed by the roughly 6 billion inhabitants on earth, their impact can be better understood when put into the context of where and how they are situated. Okinawa, Japan, for example, constitutes .06% of Japan’s total area, yet 88% of U.S. military personnel on the archipelago are stationed there. How could such a density of foreigners not shift the local culture?          

It is difficult to grasp the physical and territorial scope of these installations, yet the BSR doesn’t even fully delineate our presence overseas. According to Johnson, "if there were an honest count, the actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases overseas, but no one – possibly not even the Pentagon – knows the exact number for sure." These include bases in Kosovo (Camp Bondsteel, built in 1999 and maintained by the KBR corporation), Afghanistan, Iraq (106 bases as of May 2005), Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan. The Report dismisses twenty Turkish bases that are owned by Turkey yet jointly used by the US, as well as most of the $5 billion worth of military and espionage fixtures in Britain. Okinawa is reported as having only one Marine base (Camp Butler), yet this diminutive island bears 10 such installations.

This is an extraordinary number of bases and personnel. It is no wonder the Pentagon attempts to limit the amount of relevant information disclosed. The quality of life on many of these bases is also intended to be esoteric. Perhaps the general US public has a concept of military life constructed by Hollywood or the portrayals of mainstream news media. However, the lifestyle of many of these bases trumps the lifestyle soldiers would be experiencing in the US. 

According to Johnson, "Military service today, which is voluntary, bears almost no relation to the duties of a soldier during World War II or the Korean or Vietnamese wars." Responsibilities that used to be performed by soldiers like kitchen duty, laundry, water purification, mail call, and latrine duty are now subcontracted out to American military contractors like Kellogg, Brown, & Root (KBR) and DynCorp for hefty, multimillion-dollar sums. According to the Center for Public Integrity, in 2004 alone, the year after we invaded Iraq, Halliburton received $4.3 billion in defense contracts, mostly through KBR, then a subsidiary of the corporation. This shift in duties was brought to greater attention in the documentary Iraq for Sale, which discusses this transition of duties, the various contractors involved and their profits, and reactions from servicemen who are quite familiar with this phenomenon.   

The Washington Post reported that the officers of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah were served dinner by waiters in black bow ties in their heavily guarded compound. A Burger King has been established in the military base at Baghdad International Airport. Some bases are so big that internal bus routes have been created to accommodate their size. Moreover, we must consider the American culture that G.I.s expose to native populations, which takes various forms and can render grave effects. In Okinawa, Japan, hamburgers, french fries, pizza, and fried chicken have reduced sales of customary Okinawan cuisine, such as fish, bitter cucumbers, and purple sweet potatoes. Recently, it was determined that in Naha, Okinawa’s capital, residents spend 46% more money on hamburgers than in other prefectural capitals; 60% more on bacon; 300% more on processed meats; and, 49% less on salads and 71% less on sushi. It is Okinawan men who are feeling the greatest health effects from this culinary cultural shift: their average life span has fallen dramatically to 26th among Japan’s 47 prefectures.

Imperialist Agenda

Former State Department employee and author William Blum begins "A Brief History of U.S. Interventions" by stating, "The engine of American foreign policy has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by the necessity to serve other imperatives." These "other imperatives" are present in the 20th century history of an American nation that has sought power, worked to keep the world at the point of its bayonet, and exploit whatever resources and markets it needs to maintain its dominion over the world. Looking forward, the American military machine has shown no intention of slowing this trend. 

The origin of our foreign military posture can be traced back to the Spanish-American War of 1898 – a "splendid little war," according to then State Secretary John Hay -- when we colonized Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and annexed Hawaii in that same year. In the post-World War II world, the Cold War and escalations in Korea induced the U.S. to seek "allies" over the globe to partner against any potential Soviet attack, which resulted in numerous European and East Asian military installations. The end of the Cold War in 1991 ostensibly should have brought about consolidation and/or elimination of bases, though nearly two decades later we face not a diminution of foreign military bases but a mere "restructuring" of our immense global military reach.

The foreign policy of the Bush Administration and its neoconservative base is characterized by strengthening and "restructuring" our military reach, but they are scarcely the only ones with bloodied hands. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that Persian Gulf oil would be obtained "by any means necessary, including military force." Under the guise of "globalization," the Clinton Administration was responsible for oil-poaching through military force in the Caspian Sea basin, maintaining our overseas bases, and providing a veritable bridge from George H.W. Bush’s "New World Order" to what Vice President Dick Cheney has labeled the "arrangement for the 21st century," so that the US "will continue to be the dominant political, economical, and military power in the world."

This "arrangement" is meant to be agile and enable military action at a moment’s notice against the purported 21st century terrorist threat. According to the BSR for FY 06, Germany (293 sites), Japan (111), and Korea (105) still account for the majority of our overseas military bases, though these were installed for the more easily identifiable Soviet threat. Part of the current "restructuring" is eliminating many of these larger, permanent bases in favor of a more flexible approach to military imperialism. Thus, a system of "lily pads", within which troops should be able to maneuver easily, is being established throughout the "arc of instability" – an area that runs from the Andean region of South America to North Africa across the Middle East to the Philippines and Indonesia (a swath of earth that happens to contain the most oil-rich pockets on the planet). According to Thomas Donnelly and Vance Serchuk of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington neoconservative beacon:

With pre-positioned weapons and munitions, these "lily pads" of the "global cavalry" are already taking root. One such facility in Dakar, Senegal, provided a hub for the U.S. intervention in 2003 in the Liberian civil war. Others are located in Ghana, Gabon, Chad, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Mauritania, Mali, Entebbe International Airport in Uganda, Aruba, and Curacao in the Dutch Antilles near Venezuela. Further "lily pads" are under way in Pakistan, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and six are scheduled for Poland.

Initial Agreements, Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), and Consequential Suffering

Our foreign policy of military imperialism has helped Americans enjoy a comfortable existence; however, our estimated 1,000 overseas bases have infringed greatly upon the daily lives of the people in whose countries we are present. It may be perplexing to think that nations would tolerate such transgressions. Indeed, we would not tolerate such behavior on our own soil. How, then, does this occur?

The U.S. armed forces first strike agreements to enter foreign nations commonly on the pretext of peace-keeping and defense against a common enemy, such as the Convention on the Presence of Foreign Forces in the Federal Republic of Germany of 1954 and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty of 1951. Related to this process are Article 98 agreements, which reference article 98 of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Rome Statute, allowing a country to exempt others from ICC jurisdiction. The U.S. has sought a number of these. Subsequently, the U.S. drafts Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs), which combine U.S. law with the legal system of the other country to create a guiding document for the terms of our occupation in the foreign land i.e. facility and land usage, terms of social integration, driving requirements, among others. Most important to the SOFA however, has proven its guidance on civil and criminal law matters.

In many situations, crime, pollution, and endangerment of life have ensued, not despite the SOFAs but because of them (Of course, the unscrupulousness of our foreign endeavors and collusion by foreign leaders help perpetrate such actions). This is to say, SOFAs are drafted with loopholes and articles that grant the U.S. the right to perform facets of its agenda unfettered by any rule of law. And, just as it is unclear as to precisely how many overseas military bases the U.S. has, the U.S. publicly cited, around 9/11, 93 SOFAs, though this too is uncertain.

As stated earlier, the U.S. maintains 111 military bases in Japan, thus the Japanese are all too familiar with our presence in their country, especially in the impoverished prefecture of Okinawa, one locality inextricably affected by our presence there and the SOFA. From 1972-2002, American soldiers, Pentagon civilians, and military dependants in Okinawa committed 5,157 crimes; 533 of these were either murder or rape, which equates to a rate of 18 per year and 1.5 per month.

One of the most contentious of these "heinous" crimes took place in 1995 when three servicemen stationed at Camp Hansen rented a van and abducted, beat, and raped a 12 year-old Okinawan girl. The U.S. had the right to retain the three men, rather than turn them over to Japanese police forces, in accordance with article 17(c)(3) of the SOFA, as Johnson has pointed out, which stated: "The custody of an accused member of the United States armed forces or the civilian component over whom the Japanese is to exercise jurisdiction shall, if he is in the hands of the United States, remain with the United States until he is charged." What ensued were "some of the largest anti-American demonstrations in postwar history." At one such demonstration, 85,000 Okinawans gathered in a park in Ginowan to assert their grievances.

After much political maneuvering from both countries and further outcry from the public, the men were released to Japanese forces, dishonorably discharged from their respective military divisions, and imprisoned in Japan. This action however, did not manage to deter other servicemen Sergeant Timothy Woodland (2001), Major Michael J. Brown (2002), and Lance Corporal Jose Torres Case (2003) from committing rape and sexual assault as well.

Johnson also points to other regrettable SOFA articles, including article 9(2), which states: "Members of the United States armed forces shall be exempt from Japanese passport and visa laws and regulations." A step beyond allowing the United States to retain its servicemen who committed crimes, this theoretically allows the U.S. to remove such men or women from the country without facing Japanese legal action. Article 10(1) reads: "Japan shall accept as valid, without a driving test or fee, the driving permit or license or military driving permit issued by the United States to a member of the United States armed forces, the civilian component, and their dependents." This has been exacerbated since 1972 when Japan reverted to driving on the left-hand side of the road -- not an easy transition for thousands of service people who have been driving on the right side all their lives, thus resulting in many unnecessary car accidents. Indeed, the situation in Okinawa has been grim, and it is no wonder that many Okinawans want US officials to leave their prefecture.

Still, the U.S. military presses other countries as well. The U.S. has been present in South Korea since 1945 and contains roughly 100 bases and 37,000 troops, though the turning point in this history came in 1992 with the brutal rape of Yoon Kum Ee. This crime induced human rights advocates to establish the National Campaign for the Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea, whose purpose is "to research and investigate the crimes committed by U.S. troops against Korean citizens, eradicate such crimes, [and] work for the revision of SOFA toward an agreement that guarantees equal rights…"

The campaign web site claims approximately 100,000 crimes committed against Koreans during our occupation there and only a scant 4% of these judged. Exposure to drugs and AIDS, a black market for prescription drugs, pollution, bastardized children with their women, and overall cultural neglect are also claimed. The site documents "heinous" crimes, which include rape, sexual assault, and murder, as well as assault, robbery and rioting. Many of these crimes emanate from socials scenes for the troops, such as shanty clubs like Cadillac Bar, Love Cupid, Texas Club, and the Palladium, though others occur simply from basic military activities. One such cautionary tale involved two 14-year old girls, Shin Hyo-soon and Shim Mi-sun, who were crushed by a 50-ton mine-clearing vehicle during a training exercise in Yangju in 2002. Subsequently, two U.S. soldiers were accused of negligent homicide, though they were ultimately acquitted.

Such destruction and desecration however, hasn’t been limited to Asia. Italians have protested heartily about the U.S. presence, including a demand by the regional president of Sardinia that the navy dispatch its 2,500 service people from La Maddalena Island, which has contained a base since 1972 despite being a resort area and national park. La Maddalena contained nuclear submarines, one of which, the USS Hartford, ran aground in October 2003. Indeed, this base was closed two years later. Camp Darby between Pisa and Livorno is regarded as the "biggest American ammunition dump outside the United States." Typically, 20,000 tons of artillery and aerial munitions, 8,000 tons of high explosives, and roughly 40,000 antipersonnel cluster bombs are stockpiled there. A base since 1951, the army’s Corp of Engineers has had to clear some bunkers because of a potential explosion due to the base’s deterioration. The Italian paper the Corriere della Serta has stated it’s "a small miracle that nothing had gone wrong."

These examples are merely a fraction of the damage done by the United States armed forces against other countries and their people through Status of Forces Agreements, all in the name of its military empire. Unfortunately, the vast military leviathan of the United States has no intention of quitting its ruin and destruction any time soon.

Andrew Calderaro is Campus Coordinator of Democracy Matters at SUNY-Nassau Community College. He can be contacted at: Calderaro’s work has appeared in numerous school journals, as well as www.campusprogress.com. He has worked on a number of local political campaigns, including a current staff position on a campaign for county legislator. Additionally, he has also served numerous internships, one of which he is currently serving with Democracy Matters (www.democracymatters.org).