A factual analysis
The United States spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined. It maintains 750+ military bases in 80+ countries. This is the anatomy of an empire.
No other nation in history has maintained a comparable global military presence.
Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database 2024
Declassified. Confirmed. Not conspiracy — history.
CIA overthrew democratically elected PM Mohammad Mossadegh. Reinstated Shah Pahlavi. Motive: oil nationalization. Declassified by CIA in 2013.
CIA overthrew elected President Jacobo Árbenz. Motive: land reform threatening United Fruit Company. Led to decades of military dictatorship and civil war killing 200,000.
CIA involvement in the assassination of elected PM Patrice Lumumba, documented by the Church Committee (1975) and a 2002 Belgian parliamentary inquiry.
CIA backed Pinochet's coup against elected President Salvador Allende. Declassified documents (2000) confirm Nixon directed CIA to "make the economy scream." Thousands tortured and killed.
US-led invasion predicated on false WMD claims. Over 200,000 civilians killed (Iraq Body Count). 4,500+ US troops killed. Total cost: $2.4 trillion (Costs of War Project, Brown University).
20-year occupation. $2.3 trillion spent. 176,000+ killed including 46,319 civilians. Taliban returned to power in 2021. Costs of War Project, Brown University.
Military power is only one tool. Economic coercion is the other.
Since 1974, oil has been priced in USD globally — enforced through US-Saudi agreements. Forces all nations to hold dollars, artificially propping up US purchasing power.
US can cut nations off the global banking system. Iran, Russia, North Korea excluded. 39 countries under active OFAC sanctions as of 2024 — far more than any other nation.
US is the IMF's largest shareholder (16.5% voting share, giving effective veto). IMF loans routinely require privatization, deregulation, and social spending cuts. Documented in 131 countries.
The $886B military budget dwarfs almost every domestic spending category. These are not tradeoffs in theory — they are tradeoffs made every year.
Source: White House Office of Management and Budget, FY2024 Federal Budget
What else should we examine?
Sources: SIPRI · DoD · Brown University Costs of War Project · CIA declassified records · Church Committee · IMF · OFAC · White House OMB.