Press "Enter" to skip to content

The U.S. Empire Is Alive and Well

Before Donald Trump was elected president, the U.S. military garrisoned the planet with troops and bases. President Trump has been in office now for three and a half years. The U.S. military is still garrisoning the planet with troops and bases.

Oh, but Trump wants to withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany. Although some bloodthirsty imperialists at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) oppose the withdrawal, and twenty-two militarist, warmonger Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee expressed concern that the withdrawal would “strengthen the position of Russia to our detriment,” Trump is not without criticism since he just wants to move these troops to permanent U.S. bases in Poland.

Moving U.S. troops to Poland from Germany does not make one an isolationist. It makes one a chess master who is simply moving U.S. military pawns around the board. Trump is a militarist and imperialist just like the “conservatives” in Congress and at the AEI.

According to the latest edition of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Base Structure Report: “The DoD manages a worldwide real property portfolio that spans all 50 states, 8 U.S. territories with outlying areas, and 45 foreign countries.  The majority of these foreign sites are located in Germany (194 sites). The DOD owns, leases, or controls 47,288 buildings occupying 481,651 acres on foreign soil. The DOD has acknowledged the existence of about 800 U.S. military bases in 80 countries, but we know from the work of  Nick Turse and the late Chalmers Johnson that that number is closer to 1,000.

According to the latest edition (March 2020) of the official DOD document Number of Military and DoD Appropriated Fund (APF) Civilian Personnel Permanently Assigned by Duty Location and  Service/Component, There are a total of 174,956 active duty U.S. troops overseas in over 170 countries and territories. And this doesn’t even include “personnel on temporary duty, or deployed in support of contingency operations” (foreign wars).

Here are the countries and territories along with the total number of active duty Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force, and Coast Guard personnel:

Afghanistan*
Akrotiri0
Albania11
Algeria11
American Samoa3
Angola   11
Argentina26
Armenia8
Australia    296
Austria26
Azerbaijan13
Bahamas, The66
Bahrain4,074
Bangladesh10
Barbados12
Belgium1,142
Belize11
Benin6
Bolivia12
Bosnia And Herzegovina12
Botswana15
Brazil51
British Atlantic Ocean Territory4
British Indian Ocean Territory245
Brunei1
Bulgaria22
Burkina Faso17
Burma15
Burundi15
Cabo Verde1
Cambodia14
Cameroon9
Canada136
Central African Republic9
Chad16
Chile35
China75
Colombia67
Congo (Brazzaville)9
Congo (Kinshasa)17
Costa Rica11
Cote Divoire12
Croatia14
Cuba813
Cyprus12
Czechia16
Denmark19
Djibouti120
Dominican Republic21
Ecuador23
Egypt294
El Salvador52
Estonia14
Ethiopia20
Fiji3
Finland17
France78
Gabon12
Gambia, The7
Georgia31
Germany34,674
Ghana21
Gibraltar3
Greece400
Greenland147
Guam6,183
Guatemala27
Guinea10
Guyana10
Haiti13
Honduras380
Hong Kong17
Hungary75
Iceland2
India39
Indonesia28
Iraq*
Ireland10
Israel98
Italy12,353
Jamaica12
Japan55,165
Jordan116
Kazakhstan26
Kenya47
Korea, South26,184
Kosovo15
Kuwait2,018
Kyrgyzstan10
Laos16
Latvia13
Lebanon30
Liberia14
Libya1
Lithuania17
Luxembourg7
Macedonia11
Madagascar12
Malawi10
Malaysia16
Mali23
Malta12
Marshall Islands14
Mauritania15
Mauritius2
Mexico75
Micronesia, Federated States of1
Moldova8
Mongolia10
Montenegro7
Montenegro (2006 – 2008)4
Morocco23
Mozambique11
Namibia8
Nepal9
Netherlands398
Netherlands Antilles0
New Zealand14
Nicaragua10
Niger22
Nigeria34
Northern Mariana Islands2
Norway669
Oman20
Pakistan73
Panama30
Papua New Guinea2
Paraguay10
Peru49
Philippines196
Poland175
Portugal249
Puerto Rico158
Qatar562
Romania125
Russia38
Rwanda9
Saudi Arabia346
Senegal20
Serbia12
Sierra Leone11
Singapore213
Slovakia14
Slovenia11
Somalia45
South Africa47
South Sudan13
Spain3,227
Sri Lanka10
Sudan14
Suriname2
Swaziland7
Sweden15
Switzerland19
Swaziland7
Sweden15
Switzerland19
Syria*
Taiwan21
Tajikistan10
Tanzania13
Thailand111
Togo8
Trinidad and Tobago9
Tunisia33
Turkey1,702
Turkmenistan10
Uganda22
Ukraine32
United Arab Emirates2,502
United Kingdom9,394
Uruguay13
Uzbekistan11
Vatican City1
Vietnam33
Virgin Islands, U.S.10
Wake Island5
Yemen4
Uzbekistan11
Vatican City1
Vietnam33
Virgin Islands, U.S.10
Zambia9
Zimbabwe11
Unknown7,557
Total174,956

In addition:

  • There are 20,791 guard and reserve troops overseas.
  • The DMDC data only reflects personnel who are permanently assigned for duty at these locations. The table does not include personnel on temporary duty, or deployed in support of contingency operations.
  • Troop levels in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are not provided by the DOD.

So, what should President Trump do? The 34,674 U.S. military personnel stationed in Germany should all be brought home. None of them should go to Poland. And the 175 U.S. military personnel in Poland should all be brought home as well.

The U.S. empire is unnecessary to the defense of the United States, a global force for evil, and a drain on U.S. taxpayers. Every single U.S. serviceman should be brought home and a Jeffersonian foreign policy be followed. The peace of the world depends on it.

Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these Terms of Service.

All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under the 1st Amendment of the United States of America. Hope Holdings and Providence Post are not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. Hope Holdings and Providence Post assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners. You must ask permission from them directly to reuse or repost.

This site is a Hope Holdings company website © 2019 All Rights Reserved.