Is the Era of US Military Bases in the Middle East Over?
ByDavid Vine,The NationSince theillegalwar’s first days, US bases have suffered extensive damage from Iranian retaliation. The losses include 18 US militarydeaths,dozens killedin host nations, and billions in. . .
ByDavid Vine,The NationSince theillegalwar’s first days, US bases have suffered extensive damage from Iranian retaliation. The losses include 18 US militarydeaths,dozens killedin host nations, and billions in infrastructure costs. This damage and the limited military utility of US installations are forcing a much-needed reconsideration of the US military presence in the Middle East. A growing consensus finds that dramatic changes are needed. The result will almost certainly be the end of the nearly half-century-long era when scores of US bases have occupied the Middle East. The sooner US leaders accept this reality and start moving the military out of the region, the safer our nation, our troops, and our world will be. US bases began dotting the Middle East around 1980 when Presidents Jimmy Carter and, after, Ronald Reagan started building installations in response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and Iran’s 1979 revolution. More appeared during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2001 and 2003 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They remained long after original rationales disappeared. Today, the military has at least 80 installations inalmost everycountryacross the region. The Iranian military has attacked most countries hosting US bases because they’ve helped enable the US/Israeli war. In addition to the human toll, damage to military infrastructure and hardwareruns intothetens of billionsofdollars. US troops have been so vulnerable that military leaders moved many tolocal hotels and offices, likely violating the laws of war. Iran has made many Middle East installations “all but uninhabitable,” reportsThe New York Times. Calls for ChangeMany,includingformer military leaders, are urging change. Current infrastructure “has become an anachronism that endangers US troops,”writesone of the architects of US Middle East basing, former high-ranking George W. Bush and Trump 1. 0 administration official Elliott Abrams. Some want to “harden” installations by improving their ability to survive attacks. Others want to “disperse” troops to more locations,especiallythose farther from Iran, includingIsrael.