World BEYOND War & No Foreign Bases.org et al. – 2018-10-31 00:40:55
https://worldbeyondwar.org/bases/
ACTION ALERT: International Conference Against
US/NATO Military Bases
November 16-18, 2018, Dublin, Ireland
World BEYOND War
ACTION ALERT: Join World BEYOND War at the
First International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases
World BEYOND War
The increasingly aggressive and expansionist actions of US/NATO forces, in violation of international law and the sovereign rights of all nations, has created crises that, unless checked by popular opposition, can lead to unimaginable catastrophe and war.
ACTION: Learn more and register at http://nousnatobases.org/registration/
Base Nation: How US Military Bases
Abroad Harm America and the World
David Vine / Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt
From Italy to the Indian Ocean, from Japan to Honduras, the far-reaching story of the perils of US military bases overseas — and what these bases say about America today . . . .
American military bases encircle the globe. More than two decades after the end of the Cold War and nearly three-quarters of a century after the last battles of World War II, the United States still stations troops at some eight hundred locations in foreign lands.
These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, a little-noticed part of the Pentagon’s vast operations. But, in an eye-opening exposé, Base Nation shows how this global base network causes an array of ills — and undermines national security in the process.
As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy toward the United States. They undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the United States into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship in territories such as Guam.
The far-flung bases strain the lives of military families, breed sexual violence, displace indigenous peoples, and destroy the environment. Their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon tries to underplay the numbers, Vine’s accounting proves that the true bill approaches $100 billion or more per year. And by making it easier to wage interventionist wars far from home, overseas bases have paved the way for disastrous conflicts that have cost countless lives.
For decades, the need for overseas bases has been a quasi-religious dictum of US foreign policy. Recently, however, a bipartisan coalition has finally started questioning this conventional wisdom.
With US forces still in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and beyond, Vine shows why we must reexamine the tenets of our military strategy, the way we engage with the world, and the base nation that America has become.
The author will donate all proceeds from Base Nation’s royalties and honorariums from talks to nonprofit organizations serving military veterans, their families, and other victims of war and violence. Order now.
Donations have gone to organizations including Doctors without Borders, Wounded Warriors Family Support, Service Women’s Action Network, Partners in Health, Emergency, Iraq Veterans against the War, Amnesty International, We Are Guahan, Chagos Refugees Group, and Honduras Solidarity Network.
ACTIONS & RESOURCES:
#NoBases #NoWar #WorldBEYONDWar
* Learn where the bases are on the map: bit.ly/mappingmilitarism
* Sign and promote this petition to get US troops out of Germany.
* Powerpoint on closing bases. World BEYOND War Coordinating Committee Chair Leah Bolger is available to present this workshop to groups, in-person or virtually. Click here to contact Leah to arrange an event with your group.
* A report on the social and environmental risks of US bases in Australia, prepared by Friends of the Earth Australia and the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network.
* Visit David Vine’s BaseNation.US.
* Bombs in Your Backyard: searchable database that allows people in the US to find military installations near them and see the toxic impacts
* A No Foreign Bases conference was held in Baltimore, Maryland, US, on January 12-14, 2018.
Here is a tiny fraction of the highlights:
* Full videos here.
* Watch these videos from World Beyond War’s No War 2017:
* Watch these videos from World Beyond War’s No War 2016:
* Get involved in working on a campaign to close them by contacting us.
Security Without War
World BEYOND War
Militarism has made us less safe, and continues to do so. It is not a useful tool for protection. Other tools are.
Studies over the past century have found that nonviolent tools are more effective in resisting tyranny and oppression and resolving conflicts and achieving security than violence is.
Wealthy militarist nations like the United States think of their militaries as global police, protecting the world. The world disagrees. By a large margin people all over the world consider the United States the greatest threat to peace.
The United States could easily make itself the most beloved nation on Earth with much less expense and effort, by ceasing its “military aid†and providing a bit of non-military aid instead.
The momentum of the military-industrial complex works through the hammer-nail effect (if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail). What’s needed is a combination of disarmament and investment in alternatives (diplomacy, arbitration, international law enforcement, cultural exchange, cooperation with other countries and people).
The most heavily armed nations can help disarmament in three ways. First, disarm — partially or fully. Second, stop selling weapons to so many other countries that don’t manufacture them themselves.
During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, at least 50 corporations supplied weapons, at least 20 of them to both sides. Third, negotiate disarmament agreements with other countries and arrange for inspections that will verify disarmament by all parties.
The first step in handling crises is to stop creating them in the first place. Threats and sanctions and false accusations over a period of years can build momentum for war that is triggered by a relatively small act, even an accident. By taking steps to avoid provoking crises, much effort can be saved.
When conflicts inevitably do arise, they can be better addressed if investments have been made in diplomacy and arbitration.
A fair and democratic international system of law is needed. The United Nations needs to be reformed or replaced with an international body that forbids war and allows equal representation to every nation.
The same goes for the International Criminal Court. The idea behind it is exactly right. But if it only prosecutes tactics, not the launching, of wars, and if it only prosecutes Africans, and only Africans not cooperating with the United States, then it weakens the rule of law rather than expanding it. Reform or replacement, not abandonment, is needed.
Resources with additional information.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
