Backgrounder: US overseas troops, military bases

US President George W. Bush announced on Monday plans to withdraw 60,000 to 70,000 troops from bases in Europe and Asia over the next 10 years, as part of a global military realignment.

Following is a brief introduction to US overseas troops and military bases.

Since the end of World War II, the United States has set up military bases in different parts of the world as part of its efforts to establish a network of global military bases that relies mainly on its home bases.

The United States reduced troops stationed overseas after the end of the Cold War due to changes in its military strategy and opposition from countries that had US bases, but it boosted its military presence abroad after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Currently, the United States has hundreds of military bases in several dozen countries worldwide. US troops deployed overseas total 370,000.

US overseas military bases are spread in four strategic zones, namely Europe, the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, the Middle East and North Africa, and America.

The United States has more than 190 military bases in Europe with 100,000 troops, 73,000 of them in Germany. The Europe strategic zone comprises military bases in Central Europe, Southern Europe and Western Europe.

Key facilities there include the Army base in Stuttgart, Germany, home to the Command of US Air Force in Europe and the Command in Allied Forces Central Europe, and the Naval base in Naples, Italy, home to the Liaison Officer of the Command of the Sixth Fleet and the Command in Allied Forces Southern Europe.

In the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, the United States has more than 80 bases with about 100,000 troops. The US troops are mainly deployed in Japan, which has 47,000 troops, and South Korea,which has 37,000 troops. The Japanese island of Okinawa, which has 41 US military bases and 30,000 US troops, is the US force's Pacific hub.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the United States has military bases in Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Egypt and Afghanistan. The US forces in Iraq number 130,000.

The United States has set up 16 military bases in Latin America,most of them in Cuba and Puerto Rico. A small number of US troops are stationed there.

The US base at the Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is a straining base for the US Atlantic Fleet.

Source: Xinhua