Source is Linked below.

Highlights include: Actually about a fourth or so of these troops are at sea. . This is an estimate, so anywhere the US doesn’t acknowledge how many troops are there, Israel obviously, but also Syria. Have to rely on years old numbers from the pentagon. . US forces have occupied parts of Kuwait since the first invasion of iraq in 1991 - not news, but I didn’t know that., i mean, of course. just… never thought about it.-

https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/american-troops-middle-east-israel-palestine

  • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    Is leasing land from a government for housing soldiers that support that nations domestic defense efforts considered “occupying”?

    • smiling_big_baby_boy
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      9 months ago

      Yes. Capitalism’s global hegemony is maintained through violent coercion. If you don’t submit to capitalism: you will starve or be executed.

      The first step to freeing ourselves is to dissociate our identity from an authoritarian death machine.

    • alphanerd4@lemmy.worldOPM
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      8 months ago

      OK but like specifically with Kuwait… Edit: Also effing yes. I can’t believe I humor this yolksy folksy common sense as take on the Middle East. Just, if words mean anything. When you are maintaining a military force in a country for the purposes of hypothetically fighting in that country, yeah. Why would that not be able to be described as an occupation? -would it happen to be just that the government doesn’t want to call it that? Like how when the president unilaterally declares war without the approval of Congress. It’s a police action. Like how waterboarding isn’t torture because it’s an enhanced interrogation technique, and the water cure before that. How the US didn’t lose in Vietnam? And how the people fleeing from Central and South American countries of the US has intermittently bombed and destabilized are refugees, but get called migrants?

      Give me a break

    • FMT99@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Shh, every thing the US does is evil. Don’t try to bring nuance to an Internet hate fest.

      • Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Oh come on. Not everything.

        Just the global terrorism, destabilisation, and the killing of innocent people to satiate the greed of their fucking evil billionaires

        Other than that, I quite like my Leatherman multi tool thingy. Wouldn’t buy anything else from there mind you, but at least you have that

        • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          I agree that the US is an imperialist force that is quick to revert to occupying land that isn’t theirs. But stationing troops around the world is a very, very common thing.

          • smiling_big_baby_boy
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            9 months ago

            The belief that what currently exists must necessarily exists is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking

            • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              I mean…what? No. It’s just foolish to attribute this to something extraordinary about US imperialism. There are plenty of actual things about US imperialism that need criticizing. We live in a globalized world, whether we like it or not. Pointing to something that is otherwise completely ordinary about today’s world as something extraordinary is…stupid.

              I’m with you, I wish the world was full of anarcho-syndicalist peacemakers living in harmony. But we don’t. If we want this particular aspect to change about today’s world, we need to revert back to pre-industrial technology and a completely different world order. I’m all for that. But it’s not realistic right now.

              Like, I get what you’re saying. Military might of industrialized superpowers is troubling and I wish it didn’t exist. Shit, I wish the concept of states didn’t exist. But picking this out of the incredibly complex system of today is like…hating the concept of murder and saying, “look at all these ice picks!” Like…sure. Those things are tied together, but it’s just nonsensical to get hung up on this otherwise kinda normal thing.

        • FMT99@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          It’s just a little simplistic is all. I’m no fan of American foreign policy but to think it happens in a vacuum or that it is a uniquely American thing to enforce your global interests is a bit childish. They have wider reach than most but that’s a result of being more successful. Trying to project power is something every big nation does.

          And hell as evil overlords go, I’ll take Americans over the Chinese or Russians any day of the week.

          • smiling_big_baby_boy
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            9 months ago

            The US state’s hegemony is the result of military & economic domination at a global scale. In a capitalist society success is measured by the amount of exploitation that occurs

      • pop@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Whattt! People are critical a country that has a history of invading countries at will, killing civilians in mass, is currently funding genocide and evades any responsibility or consequences.

        But shh… it’s only evil when US says it is. The nuance is, US isn’t housing the troops for the host country’s benefit, no matter how you want to twist the truth.

      • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        The targeted social media propaganda is a lot LOUDER here on Lemmy and works easier with the smaller user base.

        It only takes 2 trolls to make an argument look unpopular here.

        • pop@lemmy.ml
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          8 months ago

          ikr, targeted social media propaganda. that the US social media companies have pushed and weaponized for two decades. It makes it hard to see the truth.

          It only takes 2 trolls to make an argument look unpopular here

          I’d rather stay with Reddit where hillbillies come out of woodwork to defend the fatherland with convincing arguments like “America bad”, “they hate us because they ain’t us”, “we’re gonna take what we want and there’s nothing you can do about it”…

          Do us a favor and go back to your “totally not social media propaganda land”.