Dear John,
I am a board member of World BEYOND War, and the chair of the No-Bases campaign. The ultimate goal of that campaign is to close all foreign military bases, beginning with the vast majority of them which are U.S. foreign military bases. We know that that will not happen soon, but an important step toward that goal is to document and make public the detrimental impacts of those bases. This includes the wars they facilitate; the threats they constitute; the oppressive governments they prop up; the pollution they cause; the crime committed by personnel assigned to the bases; the space used for the bases that could be used for agriculture, housing, or other beneficial civilian purposes; and the opposition of citizens of the host countries. We also highlight the number of personnel assigned to each base, and which bases house nuclear weapons.
A major part of this is the interactive map that we introduced late last year. Anyone can view the map, which is actually in the form of a globe. A viewer can spin the globe and clearly see where the U.S. foreign bases are. The viewer can click on any base, and see a variety of information about that base, as noted above.
As this interactive map gains popularity and is viewed by an increasing number of people, it is vital that the information is kept current. Shortly before we introduced the map, we hired a part-time researcher exclusively for the No-Bases campaign, someone who had already been volunteering with World BEYOND War. Mohammed Abunahel, a young man from Palestine currently studying for his PhD in India, has worked very hard to track current information, much of it difficult to find since the U.S. government is not forthcoming about the location of all of its bases, and releases no information about pollution, crime, opposition, etc.
It is imperative that the information about U.S. bases is current, complete and widely available. Since aspects of bases change constantly – number of personnel assigned; crimes; degree of pollution; protests, etc. – maintaining a part-time researcher is vital. We are seeking funding to assure that this research position can continue, to assist in the overall goal of ending war as an institution in the world.
We hope that you will be able to assist financially, so the interactive map can be the world’s main source of information about U.S. foreign military bases. You can make a one-time donation here or you could become a recurring monthly donor which will help support the sustainability of the project and Mohammed’s critical role in its efficacy.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Robert Fantina, Chair, No-Bases Campaign
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
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