Why America’s Most Controversial Military Bases Exist

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[hypergalactic]

"I work in the Military"
"oh, what role?"
"burger king employee"

[fdangleshadang-a-lang]

That $4, 500 check written to the Cubans every year for Guantanamo Bay has gotta be the biggest slap in the face ☠️

[stvdagger]

Another important use of Diego Garcia is that a piece of the AllSpark shard was stored there until he Decepticons stole it and used it to resurrect Megatron.

[lordpembridge]

It's disturbing that a grown middle aged woman can kill a young man with his whole life ahead of him and she gets protected from prosecution.

[Xac]

Costs more to rent a 1 bedroom apartment in the US than it does to lease Guantanamo Bay for the year.

[danielsanchez]

The sun never sets on the American Military Industrial Complex




Edit: just a joke, not a commentary or critique. Please chill out everyone😂

[KC-Mitch]

Living on Okinawa, as a kid, from 2006-2009, I found the Japanese juxtaposition towards Americans fascinating. On one hand, they were always so polite and welcoming, even if it was a shop across from the base. On the other hand, they would have massive protests that built up each May where they closed the bases, because the streets were lined with protesters (like the '63 march on Washington, for reference). The Japanese, in particular the local Okinawan people, had this uncanny ability to distinguish American people from the actions of its government. An action most Americans struggle with (think of Russia and China and how we project our feelings of their government into their people, no matter one's stance on said government).

Honestly, it was one of the coolest places I've lived. Living on base felt extremely familiar to at least a base on American soil. But then off-base felt wildly different in a uniquely positive way - like you could enjoy someplace foreign each day while reverting back to familiar roots each night. Quite an interesting few years to say the least.

Also, I remember the Okinawan weather being quite nice. It was only unbearably hot for a few weeks a year. It was a warm-water, tropical climate, but because the island was so narrow and mountainous, a sea breeze generally kept the air in the mid to upper 80s. It was quite a pleasant place to live.

[aabouncer]

US after WW1: yeah we're isolationist and we'd rather not get involved...

US after WW2: all your bases are now mine

[United-states-I-LOVE-OIL]

You know the USA has been there when they deploy a mobile burgerking 💀

[levi-nnce]

“ I served in Afghanistan…burgers that is “

[matthewharper]

It is false to claim that Diego Garcia has an indigenous population. The remote island was completely unpopulated until it became a French colony. Usually, your documentaries appear well-researched, but this is a significant oversight.

[sunray]

"I'm at the Pizza Hut, I'm at the Dairy Queen. I'm at the combination Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen" 🎶

[toyotacamry]

Tactical Burger King deployment may be the most American thing to have ever happened

[ulfgaar]

I'm so late that the title of this video has already changed at least four times.

[JBradinIII]

For future videos, pronunciation matters:
Lakenheath: “Lake-in-heath”
Ramstein: “Ram - Styne”
Al Udeied: “Al-You-Deed”
Kadena: “Kah-Deen-Ah”

[bw]

We’ve come a long long way from our founders design of “ avoid foreign entanglements “

[benverboonen]

I can't believe they gave that ghoul diplomatic immunity after killing that young man. What a despicable human.

[SilentRoadStudio]

World: How many bases do you want?

United States: Yes

[nextworld]

Glad to see this video. Much better than seeing "Russia's 200 bases dominating Europe, China's navy rules the Pacific, North Korea blackmails Japan with nukes. and Iranian navy rules the Gulf of Mexico." Yep, I'm rather happy having the USA all over the world---and nearly all of the rest of the world is happy to have us there, too.

[TheLocalLt]

As wrong as their expulsion may have been, the people of the Chagos Islands were not “indigenous”.

The islands were completely uninhabited when discovered by the French, who established palm oil plantations and brought in slave workers from their other Indian Ocean colonies. When the British took over the islands, they freed the slaves and paid them as contract workers, with the islands essentially operating as company towns owned by the palm oil plantations. When the plantations were sold to the British government, the company housing was sold along with it.