The Basing Game

The Pentagon is closing military bases at home and opening new ones abroad.

"Pentagon officials say all 425 domestic bases are under scrutiny, as the military looks to squeeze efficiencies and billions of dollars in savings from a cold-war network that has nearly 25 percent more capacity than what the armed services say they need," The New York Times reported recently. Closings in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 eliminated 97 bases, reduced capacity by 20 percent and saved the government $28.9 billion through 2003, the Government Accountability office estimates.

In response, governors across the country are lobbying against anticipated closures that would cost their states badly needed jobs and money. For instance, Jeb may inform brother George that Florida's 21 installations generate $44 billion a year in revenue. Seventy-thousand US troops are set to return from permanent bases in Germany and Asia next year. Many of them may be shipped out to new frontiers in the Middle East, Central Asia or Eastern Europe.

Iraq could be prime real estate. According to Mother Jones' Joshua Hammer, the fourteen "enduring bases" located by security expert John Pike, and reported by the Christian Science Monitor last September could very well accommodate a permanent military presence in the country for the indefinite future. Camp Victory North near Baghdad International Airport houses 14,000 troops, a Burger King, a gym and a massive supply store. Upon completion, it will be twice the size of the largest overseas base in Kosovo. In June 2003, Halliburton subsidiary KBR won a $200 million contract to build temporary housing for US troops, followed by an additional $4.5 billion in contracts for construction and maintenance.

A few countries over, the US is setting up nine new bases in Afghanistan in addition to the three that already exist. Senator John McCain and General Richard Myers have both floated the idea of long-term bases. With recent agreements in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan, American military might now encircle China, India and Russia, to say nothing of Iran.

Thirty cents of every US taxpayer dollar already goes toward national security. Is imperial dominance part of that tab?

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