Instead of focusing on money spent on military budgets, <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/deploy.htm">World Wide Military Deployments</a> takes a look at the number of soldiers deployed around the world by various countries. This is a relatively good measure of the degree to which a country exerts its forceful influence on other countries. The top 5 are: <dl dt_class="field"> United States ~ 400,000 140,000 in Iraq, 74,000 in Germany, 40,000 each in Japan, Korea and Kuwait and over 1000 troops in a dozen other countries, mostly in the Middle East Turkey ~ 36,000 All in Cyprus United Kingdom ~ 36,000 2/3 are in Germany, with over 3000 in Cyprus France ~ 29,000 Evenly distributed throughout various countries in Africa Russia ~ 17,000 1/2 of those in Tajikistan and the other in other bordering countries </dl> As you can see---and, as expected---there's a pretty big dropoff from first to second place. Don't you just get tired of chanting USA! USA! USA! as we win at every single thing? It's almost unfair for the other guys ... like they're not even trying. Oh, and for those thinking that a quick retreat from Iraq---however desirable, both morally and financially---is in the cards, take a closer look at where most of the US troops are: Germany, which we helped conquer over 60 years ago still plays host to many bases and 74,000 of our best and brightest, while Korea, which enjoyed hosting our nearly decade long war that ostensibly ended over 50 years ago still has 40,000 troops and a handful of bases. In Iraq, the US has built 14 permanent bases and just finished a super-prison. As pointed out so eloquently in <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/blum11252006.html" source="CounterPunch" author="William Blum">New Congress, Same Quagmire</a>, though many decry the war in Iraq as a total failure, pragmatics will see that a certain agenda has been achieved: <bq>Oil was not the only motivation for the American invasion and occupation, but the other goals have already been achieved -- eliminating Saddam Hussein for Israel's sake, canceling the Iraqi use of the euro in place of the dollar for oil transactions, expansion of the empire in the middle east with new bases.</bq> With oil flowing back at pre-war levels (though just barely) and <iq>Iraq's new national petroleum law -- written in a place called Washington, DC -- about to be implemented</iq>, it's more important than ever to protect the investments of the sector that comprises such a large chunk of our economy. We aren't going anywhere. I wonder why everyone hates us? We've got soldiers stationed all over the world guaranteeing their safety ... can't they appreciate anything? Don't they see how we sacrifice our boys for their safety? Ingrates.