In Biden’s recent proposed budget for the 2022 fiscal year, he is proposing $715 billion for the Department of Defense, which would be $9.6 billion more than the previous year. In addition to the $715 billion, there would also be an additional $38 billion for other “defense related” projects in other federal agencies.
The Biden administration has been making some noise about a symbolic withdrawal from Afghanistan by this upcoming September 11th. What are the realities on the ground for people in Afghanistan? What has decades of war meant for ordinary people? Since the U.S. invasion in 2001, it has claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 civilians and 2,352 US troops. Currently around 47% of Afghan people live below the poverty line. The Taliban is as dominant as ever. The U.S. war has brought nothing but devastation to the people of Afghanistan. What will be the next target of the U.S. military juggernaut?
There should be no question that the United States is an empire.
In terms of military might, there is no country that comes anywhere close to the U.S. As far as military spending, the next closest country is China, which now spends less than a third of the U.S. at around $208 billion. As of 2019, the U.S. had around 800 known military bases and instillations in about 249 countries and territories around the world. This number does not include all of the unknown but suspected bases around the world. The U.S. continues to dominate arms sales around the world by accounting for roughly 37% of all weapons sold. Of the U.S. arms sales, almost a quarter are directed to Saudi Arabia, a country that not only has one of the worst human rights records on the planet, but has also been carrying out a genocidal war on the people of Yemen over the past several years.
The proposed Department of Defense budget does not include military aid to other countries, such as the current 10-year deal giving Israel $38 billion in aid, despite Israel’s many decades of terror against the Palestinian people.
No other country compares to the U.S. in any of these respects.
Joe Biden has become the commander in chief of the U.S. empire of violence and terror. He has taken the position of head cop of the world and there is no reason to believe that anything will fundamentally change because of it.