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US Foreign Bases

Lessons To Be Learned From Washington’s Lethal War Against The World

December 15, 2020 Carlos Martinez, Morningstar Online. , , ,
The latest book from Indian Marxist Vijay Prashad is a passionate critique of the “US-led liberal international order,” in which Washington has fired — and still fires — its bullets at the peoples of the Global South and the socialist world. In Guatemala, Congo, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, Haiti, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Yemen, Sudan, Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Angola and so many other countries, Washington’s bullets have been deployed in the pursuance of regime change, the protection of US hegemony and opposition to the emergence of truly sovereign post-colonial nations, all in flagrant violation of international law.

‘We Won’t Quit Until We Stop It’

November 13, 2020 C. Douglas Lummis, The Nation. , , ,
Naha, Okinawa - Every day except weekends, holidays, and typhoon days, even in the pandemic, charter buses leave from Naha and other cities on this island to transport protesters to three locations in the north, where the Japanese government is trying to build a super airbase for the US Marines. One location is Shirakawa, on the Pacific Ocean side of the island, where the government’s Okinawa Defense Bureau is tearing down a mountain and loading it into dump trucks. There, protesters delay the work by standing in front of the trucks.

Scheer Intelligence: Tracing America’s Brutal Imperialist History

October 30, 2020 Robert Scheer, Scheer Intelligence. , , ,
The United States has the largest number of military installations in the world, with about 5,000 bases in total and at least 600 overseas, according to the Pentagon. Although the Department of Defense is not forthcoming with the exact numbers, even these estimates reveal a truth about the country’s standing in the world that many Americans often fail to recognize: the U.S. has built one of the most extensive empires in modern history. On this week’s installment of Scheer Intelligence, David Vine, the author of the books Base Nation and The United States of War, talks to host Robert Scheer about...

Base Contaminates Maryland Waters With Toxic Chemicals

October 20, 2020 Pat Elder, MilitaryPoisons.org. , , ,
The Air Force has contaminated the groundwater at Joint Base Andrews with 39,700 parts per trillion of PFAS chemicals according to report released by the Air Force in May, 2018. This is not exactly “Breaking News” although few know about it. The base pollutes the Patuxent and Potomac rivers.  Groundwater from numerous sites on base where PFAS-laden foams were used move east toward the Patuxent as well as west toward the Potomac. Meanwhile, surface water from the base travels to Piscataway Creek, Cabin Branch Creek, Henson Creek, and Meetinghouse Branch, emptying waters to both rivers.

Military Bases Never Go Unused

October 14, 2020 David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy. , ,
If, like me, you have the unfortunate habit of pointing out the dishonesty of the cases made for various wars, and you begin to persuade people that the wars are not actually for the eradication of the weapons of mass destruction that they proliferate, or the elimination of the terrorists that they generate, or the spreading of the democracy that they stifle, most people will soon ask “Well, then, what are the wars for?” At this point, there are two common mistakes. One is to suppose there’s a single answer. The other is to suppose that the answers must all make rational sense.

October 1: International Day Of Action On AFRICOM

September 27, 2020 the Black Alliance for Peace. , , ,
October 1, 2020 is the 12th anniversary of the launch of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), a command structure with bases that are now in dozens of African nations. Yet, the existence of AFRICOM has escaped the awareness of not only the general public in the United States and the world. When four U.S. soldiers were killed in the small African nation of Niger, even members of the U.S. Congress were unaware of the U.S. military's presence in the country and the extent of the U.S. military presence throughout Africa.

Will The Pandemic Transform US Military Bases?

August 5, 2020 John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus. , , ,
Okinawans opposed to the expansion of U.S. military bases on their island have been upset by the environmental damage, the accidents, and the crimes associated with the presence of 25,000 American troops. Now the anti-base movement has one more powerful argument to use in its case to shrink the U.S. footprint in this southernmost Japanese prefecture: the coronavirus. Until recently, the novel coronavirus pandemic had largely spared Okinawa. There had been fewer than 150 infections and only seven deaths among a population of nearly 1.5 million.

Stealing A Nation

June 27, 2020 John Pilger. , , ,
One of John Pilger’s most remarkable documentaries, bringing a little-known story to a wide audience, is Stealing a Nation, about how British governments ruthlessly expelled the population of the Chagos Islands, a crown colony in the Indian Ocean, in the late 1960s and early 70s to make way for an American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island. The truth about the brutal removal of 1,500 islanders and the official conspiracy to deny the presence of an indigenous population did not emerge for another 20 years. Secret official files were unearthed at the Public Record Office, in London, by lawyers acting for the former inhabitants of the coral archipelago, who wished to return to their homeland. Historian Mark Curtis described the enforced depopulation in Web of Deceit, his 2003 book about Britain’s post-war foreign policy.

Defender And Spearheads

January 26, 2020 Victor Grossman, Portside.org. , , ,
Alarm! Twelve thousand residents must immediately leave their homes! All hospital clinics must be evacuated! No exceptions! Hasten! “ Not in burning Australia nor a besieged town in Syria or Afghanistan, but on January 12th 2020 in the otherwise peaceful if no longer prosperous Dortmund, in Germany’s Ruhr Valley; once again, unexploded bombs were detected under a central street and needed delicate defusing. Peaceful life had again been disrupted by remnants of World War Two; Dortmund, on March 12th 1945, was hit by the heaviest air raid of the war, costing 6341 lives and most of its remaining buildings. Last week’s detonations went safely - but restated a sad fact: in dozens of cities people still fear leftovers of a war which ended 75 years ago.

Germans Demand All US Military Leave

November 3, 2019 War is Boring, World Beyond War. , , ,
A democratic socialist faction of the German parliament is demanding the United States withdraw all 35,000 American troops from their nation, claiming that a war with Russia is inevitable and that America’s mere presence is incompatible with Germany’s visions of peace. Known simply in English as “The Left” (In German, “Die Linke”) the party (which was founded in 2007) has claimed that America is responsible for illegal wars across the world, and that their presence within German borders is a violation of the peace doctrine enshrined in German law. “More than 35,000 US soldiers are stationed in Germany, more than in any other country in Europe,” the party said in a statement. The party also noted that the US has nuclear weapons in Germany, and that any pending escalations with Russia would undoubtedly find the German people in front-row seats to the third world war, whether they want to participate or not.

How A US Base Is Poisoning German Water

July 7, 2019 Pat Elder, World Beyond War. , , ,
Pat Elder in Germany: “The chemicals never break down … ever. In a million years they will destroy plants, poison fish and kill human beings.” Among many other proven symptoms, these poisonous chemicals cause miscarriages in women, testicular cancer in men. This damage is being propagated right now, and we need to stop it. At Kaiserslautern near Ramstein Air Base. More info and full video.

After 1,600 Days Of Protest, Okinawans Bring Fight To Washington

January 8, 2019 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. , , ,
The United States military is building another base on Okinawa in an environmentally-sensitive area, on top of the second most diverse coral reef in the world, against the will of Okinawans who have been protesting every day for over 1,600 days. There are many reasons why this base should not be built. We discuss those with Robert Kajiwara, a Hawaiian-Okinawan human rights activist, as well as why he traveled to Washington, DC and new developments in the struggle to regain Hawaiian sovereignty. And we cover news and upcoming actions.

Demand Investigation Before New Base Built In Okinawa

December 12, 2018 Veterans for Peace - Ryukyus/Okinawa Chapter Kokusai (VFP-ROCK), Popular Resistance. , , ,
Okinawa is heading for a crisis.  After decades of delays, the Japanese Defence Ministry is poised to begin dumping earth into the pristine coral garden of Okinawa’s Oura Bay to build a super base for the US Marines.  The Prefectural Government opposes it, the grassroots vigil at the construction site has continued for more than 5000 days, the actual sit-in (blocking construction vehicles) over 1000 days.  The Okinawa Chapter of Veterans For Peace is launching a campaign to persuade the US Government Accountability Office to launch an investigation of this flawed project, which, with a nudge from Congress, they just might do. 
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