Hard facts. 147 countries. 476,039 soldiers abroad. Over 46,000 veteran suicides and 5,000+ combat troops dead during the War of Terror. by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
One of the sticking points I encounter in conversation is when someone challenges me that America does not have, as I allege, a military empire. However, they never seem to be able to rattle off any facts or statistics to the contrary. This article is my attempt to document facts that he is unaware of for our benefit. The Department of Defense last issued information on troop deployment in December 2008. Obama's recent troop additions of 21,000 troops to Afghanistan were covered here, but is not factored into the below facts. (photo)
There are 194 states in the world, so therefore we have troops in 76% of all countries on the planet.
The size of America's armed forces is 1,402,227 soldiers.
476,039 of these troops, or 34% are stationed overseas. 15% of our troops are engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.
54,974 soldiers are based in Germany, although WWII ended 64 years ago.
34,039 soldiers are based in Japan, although WWII ended 64 years ago.
24,655 soldiers are based in South Korea as technically this "police action" that resulted in the deaths of 36,516 Americans and the wounding of 92,134. In my opinion, the greatest barrier to peace with North Korea is the presence of these soldiers.
We have 0 troops and bases in Vietnam, and get along with their nation fairly well, considering 58,159 were killed and 303,635 wounded during that "police action."
America's DoD is "one of the world's largest "landlords" possessing 545,714 buildings, 5,429 bases, spanning 29.8 million acres of land. (p3/205)
761 bases, or 14%, are located on foreign soil. (p23/205)
12 of the 111 bases designated as "large" are located on foreign soil. (p33/205)
However, reading the remainder of the report reveals that bases in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel are not listed, so both number of bases and "large" bases are too low.
Over 5,000 soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan for the War of Terror. (source)
Furthermore, CBS and the military revealed that 18 veterans commit suicide per day during the 8-year Global War on Terror, resulting in an estimated 46,000 deaths. (source)
The DoD stated its total spending in 2009 will be $617 Billion. (p7/26)
However, the data put together by War Resisters League appears to be closer to reality. They demonstrate that America will spend $1,449 Billion on our military during 2009. They estimate the War of Terror has cost $990 Billion.
Keep these facts in mind when "supporting our troops." My conclusion is the best way to do this is for all major deployments should return to US soil as soon as possible. This includes all personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, as I have explained in my writings.
Restore the Republic or Pay for a Bankrupt Military Empire, it is our choice. As for me, "hell in a handbasket" is not an option.
Jake, the Champion of the Constitution
Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings in part or full of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.
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 I've been saying the same for a year or so now once I got my bearings straight and started studying/supporting Dr. Paul's message! I have been researching these statistics as well and intend to write something relevant for a good friend of mine and conservative blogger that is becoming more libertarian but has concerns about military philosophy!
 I'd also like to thank you personally for your Money Matrix series. It is nice to have so much salient information in one place.
Thanks, Jake. This will come in handy for those friends and relatives who are still in denial over whether an empire exists, or to what extent (it's even worse than what I had come to understand).
Posted By: Jake, the Champion of the Constitution
Date: 2009-04-10 09:15:31
FYI, sent in to my email recently:
"What I find incomprehensible is that the criminal nature of the three Bush Wars is outed and vetted. There are no questions that Hussein was, in fact, in compliance with UN resolution 1441. It is irrefutable fact that Hussein threatened no one, had no weapons of mass destruction, no air force, no navy, largely just ground troops which Paul Bremmer fired.Â
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It is a well established fact that the use of torture, which is exactly what the US did in all the usual ways, doesn't produce useful intelligence. Further, so many of the "unlawful enemy combatants" (whatever that means) were male Iraqis old enough to sport a beard. Hundreds of these people have been released with no compensation, and a destroyed homeland. There is still [no] effective sewage control, electricity, or potable water. These US military people are the most poorly trained in US history. Further, sending them to the sunny beaches of Iraq and Afghanistan for 15 month tours, sometimes back to back is a crime against humanity.  Lying during enlistment whilst recruiters are advised by their superiors to look the other way. Accepting more high school dropouts, people with emotional and psychological problems and other such nonsense is exactly the WRONG way to produce effective ground troops. American Multinational Corporations made trillions when all is told on shoddy work, sometimes work that was never done. The most useless human beings on earth horribly planned and executed OIL (Operation Iraqi Liberation). Nothing other than murder Saddam Hussein and his family and thousands of Iraqis and Afghans has resulted from this catastrophe and yet, the perpetrators who are well known, and well known liars are still at large.Â
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I am well aware of how useless this diatribe is, I've written at least a thousand of them over the past 8 years. This country is a rogue nation, and further, the first and worst purveyor of terrorism on earth, followed by jewsreal. Two ugly ulcers on the ass of life, but no one has or will stop them. When people like Bush, Cheney, Bremmer, Powel, Rice, Wolfowitz and the other members of this group of cannons on the gundeck of life are captured and brought to justice, then we can expect more. What is so damnable is that now that we all know the Iraqis are and were innocent of the Bush Family lies, the war persists. People are still being killed, and for what?
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Hussein kept a tight reign on Iraq and the US airheads found out why when they deposed him. Then there is the matter of half of the original 18 billion dollars earmarked for reconstruction disappeared into thin air. wooden pallets with bricks of shrink wrapped C notes in the amount of 100 grand each. Or, 9 thousand million dollars. What about the pentagon losing 2.3 thousand billion dollars? Â
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All these useless military projects like the F-22 and the F-35 who, in operation Pacific Vision, received an ass kicking of biblical proportions by Russian Sukhoi 37's and Mikoyan-Guryevich (MiG) thirty fives if my memory serves. They americans were flying junk thrown together for huge profits, and cost overruns. Same is true of the F-117 and the B-2. Neither of these two hanger queens saw any real combat, and have never seen REAL air to air combat. More junk. The Bush wars this time are the epitome of utter chaos. Nor plans no successes, plenty of failures and another reason for the world to dissociate itself from this trash country.
One of the sticking points I encounter in conversation is when someone challenges me that America does not have, as I allege, a military empire. However, they never seem to be able to rattle off any facts or statistics to the contrary. This article is my attempt to document facts that he is unaware of for our benefit. The Department of Defense last issued information on troop deployment in December 2008. Obama's recent troop additions of 21,000 troops to Afghanistan were covered 