US 'Concerned' as China, Iran Hold Drills, Forgets Its Own Global Naval Presence
The article highlights military exercises involving China, Iran, and South Africa, with Russia also expected to join. Predictably, mainstream Western outlets frame such joint endeavors as 'power projection' or 'destabilizing gestures.' We're told these nations are 'flexing' their naval might, while somehow managing to ignore that the United States currently maintains approximately 750 military
bases across at least 80 countries and territories worldwide. (Source: Department of Defense Base Structure Report, FY 2022). One might wonder if 'navigational freedom' only applies when the ships are NATO-flagged. The 'concern' over these drills conveniently sidesteps the US Navy's own constant presence, exercises, and 'freedom of navigation operations' in waters thousands of miles from its own
borders. When the US sends aircraft carriers through the South China Sea, it's 'maintaining stability'; when China sends a ship to South Africa, it's a 'challenge to the international order.' The hypocrisy, much like the US defense budget, is boundless.