The Associated Press ("U.S. TO CLOSE 35 PERCENT OF OVERSEAS BASES", 2004-09-23) reported that over the next decade, the US military will abandon 35 percent of the Cold War-era bases and buildings it uses abroad, even as it seeks to expand a network of bare-bones sites in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe to help fight terrorism. The most widely noted aspect of the plan, which was announced in broad terms last month by President Bush, is the withdrawal of 70,000 US troops and 100,000 of their family members from bases in Germany and the ROK. Less well understood is that even while troops will return to the US from Germany and the ROK, the Pentagon will be building up its network of "forward operating sites," sometimes called "lily pad" bases.
Probably a good development, but will it be enough to satisfy
Sorrows of Empire author
Chalmers Johnson? Probably not.
