"Each star marks a US millitary base, but just so we're all clear: Iran is threatening us;

[Earth_First]

we're not threatening them."

[WildNovember]

1. kick and rec

[classysassy]

2. Support the troops = Support the MIC.

Wake up America,the crooks are on the loose.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

28. Yeah, because your common troop on the ground is aware of the conspiracy.

:eyes:

[tuckessee]

37. Since when did ignorance become an excuse? n/t

[YellowRubberDuckie]

98. Please see my post to the other poster who replied to my post.

[Downtown Hound]

48. At this point, with everything that's happened, there's really no excuse for not getting informed

And if you're a soldier who claims to love America, then that love should extend to finding out what truly ails it and how to make it better. Offering yourself up as cannon fodder for the war machine does America no good. It has bankrupted us and made our country a much poorer, fascist, and unhappy place.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

97. I don't think you understand why or what the average soldier does.

OR why they do it. And I think your post is a little disrespectful and uninformed. These guys have NO WAY of ever finding out any of that information. The guys on the ground are really helping people directly. Do you know any soldiers on the ground in the middle east? I do. I've known several over the course of the last decade. I know one or two who were killed over there. Those guys didn't die for the war machine. They died for the ideals of this country. Not the ones that you and those like you have decided that this country no longer stand for, but for the same reasons those men and women died during WW2. While the reasons weren't as good, in their actions and in their minds, those soldiers felt they were doing something similar. THAT is your average troop on the ground. You make it all sound like one giant conspiracy theory, and that is just ignorant.
I do not disagree with you that it is bankrupting our country and making it a worse place, however, from the guys I know on the ground over there, if we just walk away, there are a lot of people over there who count on us who are going to be screwed even more than if we helped them get on their feet before we go.

[CarmanK]

40. There are always crooks spying upon their PREY!

The greed a human kind knows no boundaries. There are always those who will steal, lie, cheat and bilk by any means necessary. It is whether we take those threats seriously, respond to the problems with appropriate push back or go way, way overboard as we have done in the past. Iran is a place on the map, that is hostile to the WEST because of its Islamaphobia and Ayotollah's control. They will not attack, because they do not want to exercise the military inferiority, so like the mouse that roared, they will make a lot of noise until someone pays attention. And of course in the US there is the military industrial complex whose own self interest would demand responses as well as the neocons whose quest for profits would take this country into any conflict that KEEPS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN CHECK responding to FEAR of the Other.

[rtassi]

45. +1

[Name removed]

87. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Octafish]

3. Anyone can see their strategy.

Iran is allowing the Empire of the United States to spend itself into oblivion.

[The Doctor.]

11. Win.

Period.

[KG]

20. ++++

[jwirr]

36. Just as that was Bin Laden's goal. And W fell hook line and sinker

for the whole mess. Not to mention that was also W's goal as it is the goal of the gop today. Drown us in the bathtub.

[SomethingFishy]

52. It's pretty much what we did to the Soviets in the 80's...

And we know what happened to them...

[Flatulo]

67. Hahahah, the Great One, Muhhamed Ali, used to call that Rope-a-Dope. Great observation. nt

[Angry Dragon]

4. Still a lot of borders not all covered

we need more bases to destroy the evil empires of the world

[Mosaic]

27. So the most evil of them all can rise to prominance?

I get your sarcasm but still I dislike dark sarcasm.

[inna]

50. nothing wrong with "dark sarcasm"! YMMV.

:hi:

just sayin'.

[geckosfeet]

30. Yeah. What's going on with all those ex-soviet border states? We need bases there!

[Old and In the Way]

5. Interesting that the biggest oil producer has almost no presence.

Wonder why? I'd say one of the primary functions of our bases is to act as a lightening rod for the religious extremists and assorted terrorists in the region....and keep the House of Saud stabilized by providing a multi-base distraction.

And we, the taxpayer, through our $700BB/year Defense budget, are helping to make sure the gas gets to our local gas station where we, the consumer, can get properly gouged at the pump.

[AntiFascist]

65. +1, bingo! n/t

[Orrex]

6. Looks like Yemen is threatening us, too.

[Welibs]

7. Iran is always threatening someone, they've been doing it for centuries. The Middle East is

Iran has a massive army that anyone would be foolish to engage. In the 21st century surely there are better ways. No one should lose their kids for this. I support the troops but I support them coming home to rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of the US.

[truedelphi]

69. Totally agree.

And it is not only that some people could lose their kids to this - this could be the conflagration that sets off a nuclear war.

When you watch C Span and see how our military and financial experts do not want two of the major nations using Iran's central bank rather than England's or the USA's - well, that explains what this notion of "Iran the Evil Doer" is all about.

[Yavin4]

8. Glenn Greenwald Wrote an Excellent Editorial on this Subject

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/04/george_orwell_on_the_evil_iranians/

[inna]

51. Thank you! (I think I'm ordering Glenn's book, right now! :)

[russspeakeasy]

81. Every book and article of his, that I have read, has made sense.

"With Liberty and Justice For Some" is a great read.

[Bonobo]

9. THIS is one of the things we mean when we say "lesser of two evils" or...

"both parties are essentially the same".

Those that cannot see that both statements are true suffer from a kind of myopia that will doom us to never rising higher than we are.

[KG]

21. ++++

[ooglymoogly]

47. No both parties are not the same...Repukes, Dino's, yeller dogs

DLC'ers and third wayers are the same; there to appear bi-partisan and pass debilitating legislation tagged with a D. There are still a few Democrats clinging to hope for the next election, and still supporting the people of this country, who are not the same. It is those we must identify and push hard for the true D's like Warren and Grayson et al.

[defendandprotect]

73. If there are any differences, Obama is fading them faster and faster ...

I'd say, Obama's move to the right is exactly what brought OWS out into

the streets --

and the message is that both parties are finished!


Koch Bros. funded DLC infiltrated and influenced the party for more than 20 years,

including the party agenda and its candidates --

The party is now controlled by Third Way -- and their basic policy/stance is that

"the base of the party is to be ignored" --


Granted there are a FEW Democrats left -- but seemingly there is nothing left of the

Democratic Party which is supportable -- !!


There are still a few Democrats clinging to hope for the next election, and still supporting the people of this country, who are not the same.



Additionally, just to recap -- a few weeks ago I caught Jonathan Cowan on C-span/Washington

Journal -- and he made clear that their stance/policy is "that the base of the party is to

be ignored" --

Additionally, he related to the C-span audience that ...

"populism and populist discussion and debate is the equivalent of Karl Rove propaganda of

extremism" -- !!


Got that? New Deal, Social Security, Medicare, safety nets is Karl Rove extremism!


Who could possibly support any of this?


Yes -- I will support the FEW -- with individual contributions -- but they exist only within

a party under the control of corporations.


If you recall what they did to Byron Dorgan when he tried to move Medicare negotiation on

prescription drugs, you understand the futility of this. Byron's next move was to be to reinstate

Glass-Steagall. After the party abandoned him on the Medicare issue that didn't happen -- and

he announced he wouldn't run for another term.


How much longer are we going to kid ourselves?

Because the longer we wait, the further the party and Congress will move to the RIGHT!

[defendandprotect]

72. +1000% --- supporting evils just keeps us in their pockets!!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. That's what I've been saying all along!

The U.S. has Iran surrounded on all sides.

Who's the threat here?

But geeze, I never knew there were so many bases!

That, folks, is where your tax dollars go.

[libodem]

12. Kinda makes ya go

Hmmmm?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. But, what about the Iranian Nuclear Sub bases in Saskatchewan and Sonora?

[Starry Messenger]

14. Be afraid... be very afraid!

The newest boogey man is coming...

[RZM]

56. Iran certainly isn't the newest bogeyman. If anything they are one of the oldest bogeymen

They have been portrayed as such in one way or another since the 1979 revolution and hostage crisis. A couple months from now will mark the tenth anniversary of Bush declaring them part of the 'axis of evil.' Their nuclear program has been in the news off and on for at least as long.

Here's a rather tongue-in-cheek piece from 1992 which appeared in 'Parameters,' the academic journal of the US Army War College. The piece is called 'The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012.' It's more a critique of blurring lines between the civilian and military sectors, but it's amusing to note that one of the events that sparks the fictional coup is an Iranian invasion of the Gulf states and subsequent Iranian victory over US forces.

www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/parameters/dunlap2012.pdf

[donheld]

15. NOW we know why we have a debt problem

That is where the money went.

[Hutzpa]

16. This should go viral

sick and tired of these war mongers. Damn! :puke:


k&r

:kick:

[patrice]

17. K&R

[JohnyCanuck]

18. K&R

[GTurck]

19. The level of...

deceit is beyond comprehension.
Once a long time ago (15 yrs.?) I believed that we were the country the right now imagines but too much is going on for me to trust our government and our institutions to treat us like intelligent and sensible adults. This country has become the wonderland of Lewis Carroll's imaginings.

[NOLALady]

31. Actually,

This country was a nightmare for Native Americans and enslaved Africans when the Constitution was signed. It has been the wonderland for some time now.

[Amonester]

76. +1000 (n t)

[Ikonoklast]

22. The DoD is the single biggest user of refined petroleum products on Earth.

No oil, and the death toys don't fly, roll, or sail.

The MIC and Big Oil have an incestuous relationship, each needing the other; The MIC keeps oil prices artificially high through demand, and invades recalcitrant resource-rich countries on behalf of Big Oil, and Big Oil keeps the MIC supplied with more fuel than France uses in a year to keep the death machines rolling.

Yay, our military is protecting us...from those who won't sell their oil to us.

[PETRUS]

42. The 2nd largest single source of proven petroleum reserves is...

...the National Iranian Oil Company. No wonder the MIC is hovering.

[Ikonoklast]

59. Hovering, hell. They're drooling.

Got to keep those expensive toys running.

[defendandprotect]

74. No oil -- No War --

Actually, there still seems to be a somewhat sane element in our

Pentagon/MIC -- which has spoken about developing solar planes!

That seems to be the same element which warned W that Global Warming

is a bigger threat to the US than "terrarism" -- and that with a long

list of catastrophes which GW will bring, they included earthquakes.

That was later scrubbed from the memo, but indeed the melting of the

glaciers is causing more earthquakes -- and more severe earthquakes.


The knowledge of that reality was what caused the Fukushima government

5-6 years ago to try to shut down their reactors -- W sent a team --

and soon there was a new government in place --- but the nuclear reactors

continued to operate!


We need to be shutting down our own 100 or so nuclear reactors across US --

may make the difference between "a whimper or a bang" -- !!



:hi:



Btw, Bernie Sanders said yesterday on Thom Hartmann Show that Texas now has enough

wind energy which -- if hooked up -- would be the equivalent of 10 nuclear power plants!

[SHRED]

23. We are in Prince Sultan still?

How old is this map?

[sammytko]

39. Yeah, thats been gone for a while

And some of those "bases" are just transport hubs or tiny little base camps. Nothing really there that can do much damage to the evil empire.

Any real damage will come from missiles fired from ships in the gulf.

[Ford_Prefect]

24. Anyone guess why this image is not being shown or discussed on ABC-CBS-NBC-BBC-NPR-ETC?

Imagine...

[think]

29. Would be great to see it go viral and in a way that shames the MSM for their lack of coverage...n/t

[russspeakeasy]

84. Good luck shaming MSM.

They won't go near it, because their advertising revenues depend on the same companies that profit from war.

[hulka38]

25. Wow.

[ensho]

26. and we are paying for all of that

another way to look at is that we are protecting Iran

nobody can attack them unless we say so

meanwhile the US pipes, bridges, dams, etc. crumble and we pay for it

thanks for the visual!

[athenasatanjesus]

32. Iran threatens the noble nation of Militarybaseiztan.

How can anyone not see that?

[ZombieHorde]

62. Funny. nt

[polly7]

33. An interesting article:

U.S. Military Encirclement of Iran

By Judy Bello

on Sunday, November 20, 2011, 1:14pm

http://forusa.org/blogs/judy-bello/us-military-encirclement-iran/9909

[midnight]

64. " Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama tell Asad to step down or end the violence immediately, knowing

full well that their allies are maintaining the armed insurgency in his country." That sure is curious?

[T S Justly]

34. K&R (nt)

[lsewpershad]

35. No Nukes

for Iran but Iraael??? as for the US we have enough to destroy the world ten times over. My god when is our govt and so called leaders stop taking us for fools??

[KG]

43. when we stop being fools.

[Rex]

38. Wow, looks like we could crush Iran at a moments notice.

[scentopine]

41. Our taxes hard at work securing oil for Wall Street CEO Investments...

by taking Iraq and Afghanistan, Wall Street hopes to keep Iran in check. As citizens we are obligated to pay and die to protect Wall Street. For our brave allegiance to the CEO, you may have your remains tossed in a landfill.

America - it's not about freedom anymore. It's about preserving the honor and glory of the rich. If we worship them like gods on Mt. Olympus, maybe they'll stop hurting us.

Now - the economy is still bad. Round up some peasants for another sacrifice.

[patrice]

44. Shared & Thanks!

[pam4water]

46. What we are just trying to connect the dots. I'm sure if they let US put some bases in Iran

everything be A OK ;)

[Leopolds Ghost]

55. The US just has a bad case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Paging Monk n/t

[gtar100]

49. This picture is very misleading and doesn't show the true nature of Iran's threat to the US.

For a real understanding, there should be a comparison map that shows all the Iranian military bases currently in Canada and Mexico plus all the Iranian Naval vessels in both the Pacific and Atlantic off our coasts.

[U4ikLefty]

53. I like it....great idea!!!!

:thumbsup:

[Rex]

57. DUzy!

[L. Coyote]

58. It takes a pie chart to see reality, every time!

===================
Pie chart - Iran military spending compared to other middle eastern countries



http://irancoverage.com/2007/07/30/sides-in-cold-war-ii-are-highly-uneven/pie-chart-iran-military-spending-compared-to-other-middle-eastern-countries/

===================

[Leopolds Ghost]

54. Oh, we're TOTALLY there to look for Al Qaeda.

No question about it. Why, this map just tells you who the US Gov't thinks the "real culprits" are. Anyone but Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

[L. Coyote]

66. Those are WMD search parties, not real military bases.

They have been working every day since Bush sent them to prove there were WMDs,
with orders to not return until they had proof :rofl:

[Old and In the Way]

83. Yeah, Shia Iran is a huge supporter of Sunni based Al Qaeda.

:-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is also responsible for instigating sectarian violence among Muslims.<25> Al-Qaeda is intolerant of non-Sunni branches of Islam and denounces them with excommunications called "takfir". Al-Qaeda leaders regard liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis, Ahmadiyyas and other sects as heretics and have issued attacks on their mosques and gatherings.

So, lets see...Saudi Arabia is the spiritual home to Sunni Muslims and the political home to Al Qaeda. Now we're ramping up our belligerence to attack Shia Muslims - essentially, providing the muscle against Al Qaeda's spiritual enemy. What's wrong with this picture?

[Politicalboi]

60. Where's the

Iran Embassy? LOL!

[WhatsNext]

61. HIGHLY Recommended reading: PhD Independant Iran Nuke Analysis

Amazingly detailed analysis of the Iran/Israel Nuclear history. Although written in 2005, little has changed other than the Iranian win achieved by the US taking out or reducing power of two of its top contenders in the region: Saddam and The Taliban

Humanitarian and Geopolitical Implications of Iran's Pursuit of Nuclear Capacity A Negotial Approach

http://www.atlantic-community.org/app/webroot/files/articlepdf/Nuclear%20Iran.pdf

I learned more from this document than all the spin being offered on the Iranian Threat issue.

[Smarmie Doofus]

63. I hope I'm rec 200. n/t

[Charlemagne]

68. Map is incorrect

We no longer have bases in Uzbekistan. In other countries, we have less than 25 military personnel....hardly a base at all.


http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1106.pdf

[malaise]

70. A complete inversion of reality

We're getting that oil no matter how many Iranians are killed :sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

71. How I'd love to see THAT on the evening news -- !!! What's the MIC worth to elites -- !!

Imperialism in all its shiny military hardware -- !!!


:puke: --


Great work!!


:hi:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

75. Of course they are, they threaten all those peaceful bases we have.

It is their fault.

[harun]

77. I hope the Israelis and Saudi's send the American taxpayers a nice thank you note.

But I won't be holding my breath waiting for one.

[gejohnston]

78. Not all are US bases.

Many of them are bases shown belong to the local country, but we (and others such as UK, France, and Canada. Those are the ones that I know of.) have stuff stored there or work from there on occasion.
Out of the three I have been to, I doubt there are any foreigners troops there now. I suspect that is true of many of the others.
If you must go to one, choose Thumrait over Prince Sultan.

[Old and In the Way]

96. Most likely, true...but, from an Iranian viewpoint, that's a distinction without a difference.

It's still part of a western coalition of bases that are strategically encircling my country. If I'm an Iranian, I'm hoping like hell my country is developing nuclear weapons. Look what happened to Iraq when it was clear they didn't have them. They got invaded and occupied. All we are doing is empowering the most reactionary elements of Iranian society and marginalizing the vast majority of moderates.

What's interesting about this map is that we don't seem to have the equivalent information published by our own government. Or maybe we do, but the mainstream media doesn't think the general public would be interested. But, if we are to make informed decisions about our defense needs, we really ought to know where all of the bases are stationed in the world. I'm sure the base locations are known to people of the countries where they are located...so what's the big secret? Maybe our own government doesn't want to connect the dots and let the American public in on a comprehensive assessment of our own force projection, given the fact that we have no money for our own infrastructure, healthcare, etc.

[Owl]

79. A waste of money.

[certainot]

80. RW radio did the heavy lifting selling us into iraq and is for iran also, while ignored by the left

a small sampling of RW radio stations in a couple of US states would look like that

there is NO organized opposition to those 1000 coordinated radio stations that pound the same meme every week- iran needs to be 'dealt' with

[woo me with science]

82. Very best OP on DU right now. K&R nt

[Blue Owl]

85. Fill up those goddamn fuel tanks, fuckers

N/t

[qb]

86. The latest pretexts for war are so transparent: "Lost" drone "captured" by Iran, and

they're going to send it to China! Then a year-old hostage video goes public.
:puke:

[PavePusher]

88. Wow. Looks really scary. Until you actually consider....

how many troops this covers, how they are distributed, what they do, where their focus is, how they are equipped, what ther mission is....

And then it's not nearly as concerning.

But hey, don't let truth get in the way of selling fear, the Republicans need all the help they can get....

[TeamPooka]

89. I think you are...

Rationalizing your way through the Empire.

[TBF]

90. Countries with the largest oil reserves -

Countries with the Largest Oil Reserves
view as: list / map
▲ Country proven reserves of oil (bbl)

1. Saudi Arabia
264,600,000,000

2. Canada
175,200,000,000

3. Iran
137,600,000,000

4. Iraq
115,000,000,000

5. Kuwait
104,000,000,000


More at the link: http://www.aneki.com/oil.html

Any questions?

[athenasatanjesus]

93. Guess it's a matter of time before we invade Canada. nt

[TBF]

95. Not if they're cooperative - I don't see us invading Saudi.

And with the money both countries are going to be making off that pipeline I see sunny skies ahead (well, sunny but polluted).

[woo me with science]

91. Kick. nt

[lovuian]

92. We can't educate build bridges give health care give pensions

our country but we have bases all over the world

[woo me with science]

94. Kick. nt