President Donald Trump recently announced that the US would be increasing the number of troops it had in Afghanistan.
During the televised remarks from Fort Myer, Virginia the President did not allude to the specific numbers, but said the troops would be there to train members of the Afghan army.
The US has a military presence in much of the world without being an occupying force, although some countries would dispute that definition and call it an “invasion” instead.
Even if the Confederacy considered the US to be a hostile invading power, the American Civil War and continental annexations within the United States are not counted as a military presence.
Using data on US military interventions published by the Evergreen State College, in Olympia Washington, indy100 created maps with data compiled by Grossman.
The map above documents a partial list of occasions, since 1890, that US forces were used in a territory outside the US.
These include deployments of the military to evacuate American citizens, covert military actions by US intelligence, providing military support to an internal opposition group, providing military support in one side of a conflict as in aiding Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War 1988-89 for example as well as the use of the army in drug enforcement actions, as in Bolvia in 1986.
It does not include threats of nuclear weapons against a territory, such as during the Berlin Air Lift (1948-49).
It also excludes any time US military personnel were deployed to a foreign country for an exclusively humanitarian purpose. US troops were sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide assistance to refugees fleeing the Rwandan genocide (1996-97).
US military active duty map. Evergreen State College [click on map to enlarge]
Despite various administrations often suggesting withdrawal policies, there remains a significant US military presence throughout the world. Their presence is mapped in blue.
According to figures from the US Department of Defense, the US had 199 005 members of its military on active duty in several countries. The top three locations are Japan (39 623), Germany (34 399) and South Korea (23 297).
Figures released for the June quarter, showed that the UK was home to 8 126 active duty US soldiers.
Absent from the map are Iran, North Korea, and other locations that are openly hostile to the United States.
Also in June, there were zero active duty military present in the Central African Republic, Georgia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Macao, Montenegro, the island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Swaziland.
