Infographic: The size and reach of the United States military

yllus

Elite Member & Lifer
Aug 20, 2000
20,577
432
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This is sort of random, but I was looking at infographics my daily paper has done in the past and came across this one which graphically depicts the size and reach of the United States military. It's really rather impressive. You'll need to click the yellow bar to see the full size image, or click here to see it in a new browser tab.

fo1029_usbases12001.jpg
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
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Yup and we wonder why our military budget is 700billion + We are basically out fighting across the planet attacking or defending people. It costs a lot of money to fight the worlds wars.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
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I am shocked, as I feel naked and undefended. Just one look at that map is all in takes, its quite clear the US military is unable to control a whole continent called Antarctica.

But in good recent news, we are progressing in our satellite surveillance and can do a good census of the Gathering army of about to be invading Penguins.

The Penguin threat was well documented by Arthur Hopper in the late 1960's, in a book called Love everyone but Penguins.

So double and triple the defense budget.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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I like Rammstein as much as the next metal fan, but why do my tax dollars need to fund 50,000 US soldiers to defend them?
 

kyrax12

Platinum Member
May 21, 2010
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700 billion is massive!

They really need to cut down on the military budget. Maybe if they reduce it to only 200 billion and save 500 billion onto other things.. the economy can get better.
 

PottedMeat

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
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i think it should be reduced a bit, but a global presence is nice to have. and you're exposing 500k+ people to other cultures and bringing stuff back.


for some reason i assumed russia had something similar, but nope. they've got clusters of bases in former soviet republics and a single naval base in syria.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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670
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i think it should be reduced a bit, but a global presence is nice to have. and you're exposing 500k+ people to other cultures and bringing stuff back.

I'd say "nice to have" makes sense when you're running a surplus, not when you have massive deficits.

We can't afford to be Team America World Police unless we start collecting funding from the rest of the world to cover the cost.

We need massive cuts in military spending overseas, especially if we want to keep the funding for things like new fighters.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
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I like Rammstein as much as the next metal fan, but why do my tax dollars need to fund 50,000 US soldiers to defend them?

Because 2 World Wars made us somewhat wary regarding them rearming in a big way? That said I think the real reason we have such a large presence in Europe so long after WWII ended is more a relic of the Cold War than WWII itself.
 

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,986
1,388
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Neat graph but I am not sure about its accuracy.

AF bases in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Philippines? Marine base in Malaysia? That's new to me.
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
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Military is just another welfare system these days. Its a totally unproductive (actually destructive) activity that gives inner city and broke rural ppl jobs. Hides under guise of national security so it's not going anywhere. Well..until we go broke.
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
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All you need is one of those for "defense" and they are under 100 ft of epoxy concrete manning silos.

Its not that simple, but even if you just had one, it would still cost nearly as much as five. Not sure how manning a silo qualifies for defense either.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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Sorry, there is no reason why defending our freedom of speech requires keeping 50,000 troops in Germany in 2012.

It's a false dilemma to imply the choices are $700 billion a year or being conquered by someone.
 

Zebo

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2001
39,398
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Its not that simple, but even if you just had one, it would still cost nearly as much as five. Not sure how manning a silo qualifies for defense either.

Would you ever attack me if you knew it was insta death?
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
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Would you ever attack me if you knew it was insta death?

Ask al-Qaeda. You really think we are ever going to push the button? Do you really think that is even a deterrent anymore? Again, I ask the question, how is that defense? Oh right, because total destruction is the only defense needed.
 

xBiffx

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2011
8,232
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So you agree that we don't need to be spending tens or hundreds of billions to staff bases overseas? Good.

Nope, but what is the point of have a right to free speech or anything else if you aren't alive or able to execute it. If you really need someone to explain to you how the military helps to ensure the continued existence of this nation then you are hopeless.