Baku, Azerbaijan, April 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
There is such a saying as "The one who dominates the Middle East will be able to dominate the whole world."
To our regret, the Muslim countries do not realize the strategic importance of their territories. As a result of the military conflicts in the Middle East, as well as the "shadow" of Iran’s danger, in due time Arab countries in the hope of "being saved" from Iran turned into hostages of the US and Western countries.
Today, there are more than 54,000 US servicemen in 12 Arab countries, which have turned into the US military base. Moreover, there are also military bases of France and UK in the region.
US military bases in Arab countries
The biggest contingent of US troops in the Middle East - at least 11,000 servicemen has been deployed at the Al Udeid Air Base of the US Air Force Central Command in Qatar. Here is the headquarters of the Central Command of the US Armed Forces and the Command of the US Air Force.
Another US military base, the Camp Doha, is in Kuwait. More than 10,000 US servicemen have been deployed there. The military base was founded in 1991 and played a key role to invade Iraq.
There is the US air base Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates. The number of US servicemen has not been disclosed, but, according to Arab media, there are about 5,000 servicemen.
The US has also military bases in Oman, and the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet, which is the operational fleet of the US Navy, is based in Bahrain. It has been responsible for naval forces in the western Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. The fleet includes rotational ships of the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets of the US Navy.
The US has eight military bases in Syria, where the total number of US servicemen is 2,000. Along with the US, there are also military bases of France and UK in the UAE and Bahrain.
Despite the Arab countries see the military bases of the US and Western countries as a guarantor of their security, these military bases primarily pose a threat to the Arab countries themselves.
The invasion of the Americans to Iraq from Kuwaiti territory testified that the US, if necessary, can use its military bases against Arab countries.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Trend Agency. Follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu