United States and its War on Terror
No one doubts the extent of the military might of this country; a force that has been used many times, and may be used again in the future. The United States, itself, was born from a bloody war of independence against England, and from its inception has rarely experienced periods when it has not been engaged in war.
Nevertheless, the average US citizen is peaceful and hardworking, fully immersed into the consumer society with little interest in the lives of others. This is in sharp contrast to its governments which throughout history have upheld an unswerving imperial policy of meddling in the lives of other nations and dictating guidelines as if they were the chosen gods on this planet Earth.
My friend Professor Nelson Valdes sent me a series of US Defense Department internet links with some impressive military data, some of which is worth sharing.
The armed forces own 539,000 facilities, including buildings, warehouses, etc, of which 183,799 are outside the country and represent a value of about US$ 157 billion. They also have 5,570 military sites occupying some 29 million acres of land (120,000 square kilometers), more than entire territory of Cuba and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Not counting its secret bases outside of the US mainland, they have 837 bases in 150 of the planet’s 192 countries. US military manpower consists of 2.5 million people with an estimated budget for the 2010 fiscal year of more than US$ 630 billion.
These and other figures shown on the website are really frightening. Why does the US need such immense military wealth? To fight terrorism?
It has been proven time and again that this is not the case: terrorism is not fought by having military bases scattered all over the world. On the contrary, the aftermath of many of these bases is in part responsible for creating the conditions for the emergence of terrorist cells. What have thousands upon thousands of US troops deployed around the world achieved against terrorism? Nothing. They haven’t even had success in countries where they have been entrenched in heavy combat for the past several years, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Millions of soldiers under arms and billions of dollars spent annually to maintain such military might has not avoided a single terrorist action that has occurred in the country, much less around the world.
So if they are not useful for stopping terrorist actions inside or outside the United States, what are they good at?
Imperial arrogance? Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, President Barack Obama said that this country was fighting a war against terrorism.
While terrorists do not rest in their zeal to find ways to harm this nation, showering the world with military bases and invading countries merely throws fuel on the fire. The more cities that are bombed and the more civilians that are victims of these bombings, the more forces swell against such actions. Violence begets violence. You cannot go around the globe accusing people of being potential terrorists; this only creates irreconcilable hatreds. The terrorist attack on the federal building in Oklahoma (April 19, 1995) showed that there is no need to be born in a specific country to become a terrorist.
All of these impressive figures regarding the might of the United States military forces are of little use to fight against those people who the president says we must fight against.
The causes of terrorism are very complex and very difficult to remove, but if the United States, leaving behind its imperial policy, were to withdraw all these overseas bases and, let’s say, devote only a quarter of these expenditures to create a truly international antiterrorist organization, operating as it should, perhaps they would manage to control, though not entirely eliminate, terrorist actions. Meanwhile, I fear that this alleged war will continue, feeding on itself, to the end of times.
*A Miami-based Cuban Journalist
