"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32... and also chiseled into the marble entrance of the CIA Central Intellegience Agency... how's that for irony!
Most of what you believe about your government is a lie, an elaborate illusion to keep you ignorant of the truth. To the extent to which you buy their lies and the propaganda of the major media you are deluding yourself. "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
So, citizen, are you going to take the blue pill or the red pill ? As Morpheus said, "all I offer is the truth and nothing more".
In great empires the people who live in the capital, and in the provinces remote from the scene of action, feel, many of them, scarce any inconveniency from the war; but enjoy, at their ease, the amusement of reading in the newspapers the exploits of their own fleets and armies.... They are commonly dissatisfied with the return of peace, which puts an end to their amusement, and to a thousand visionary hopes of conquest and national glory from a longer continuance of the war. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and the name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void and ineffective for any purpose since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it; an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed... An unconstitutional law is void. (16 Am. Jur. 2d, Sec. 178)
“Nationalism does nothing but teach you to hate people you never met, and to take pride in accomplishments you had no part in.” Doug Stanhope
There's a fine line between the American dream and the American nightmare. Don Henley
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. - Ayn Rand
Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. ~ T. S. Eliot
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism when hatre for people other than your own comes first. Charles De Gaulle

Mapping the growth of bases worldwide

USBasesBy Kelly Martin, David Vine

Even though the U.S. military has fewer bases that it did at the end of the Cold War, it has increasingly inserted itself into new corners of the globe with the help of small, often secretive “lily pad” bases; today, there are bases in around 80 countries and U.S. territories — roughly twice as many as in 1989.

Formally called “cooperative security locations,” lily pads are small, spartan installations that often house prepositioned weaponry and allow troops to deploy quickly into battle, like frogs jumping across a pond. While the new bases appear to offer a low-cost, low-profile alternative to giant, city-sized installations, lily pads can easily transform into larger bases and commitments, potentially plunging the country into new, little-known conflicts.

Click on the image and then on the symbols for more detail about particular bases.