William M. Arkin i Washington Post har en interessant artikkel om US military’s planer om å forhåndslagre materiell rundt om i Midtøsten. Det gir en anelse om hva superpower-status betyr. USA skal ikke ha soldater på plass, men materiell og baser som kan ta imot soldater i en krisesituasjon.

The U.S. military has developed a ten-year plan for «deep storage» of munitions and equipment in at least six countries in the Middle East and Central Asia to prepare for regional war contingencies.

The plans, revealed in March 2006 contracting documents, call for the continued storage of everything from packaged meals ready to eat (MREs) to missiles in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, as well as the establishment of two new storage hubs, one in a classified Middle Eastern country «west» of Saudi Arabia («Site 23») and the other in a yet to be decided «central Asian state.»
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Central to the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to fight both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars has been the use of pre-positioned war materiel and the quick establishment of expeditionary bases. At the height of operations in both countries in 2003, the Air Force, for instance, operated from 36 bases in and around the region. That number has since shrunk to 14 today, including four main operating bases in Iraq.

U.S. Plans New Bases in the Middle East