These installations serve as logistical hubs, training grounds and command centres for American and allied forces, forming the backbone of NATO’s deterrence posture in the region.

U.S. military installations are located in several European countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, and Kosovo.

Germany hosts one of the largest concentrations of American military facilities in Europe. Among the most prominent is Ramstein Air Base, a major command centre for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and NATO Allied Air Command.

Ramstein plays a central role in coordinating air operations and logistics for missions across Europe, Africa and the Middle East . The base alone hosts more than 16,000 military personnel and civilian staff, making it one of the largest U.S. military communities outside the United States.

Other key hubs include:

U.S. European Command (EUCOM), headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, oversees American forces across the region. Estimates suggest more than 65,000 active-duty U.S. troops are stationed within the EUCOM area, according to Department of Defence data cited by Newsweek.

These troops are supported by thousands of civilian employees, contractors and family members living near bases throughout Europe.

The network of bases is believed to allow the United States to maintain a rapid response capability and reassure NATO allies, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Forward-deployed forces help Washington project power, conduct joint exercises, and support allied operations, while also signalling the United States' commitment to European security.

Many bases date back to the early Cold War era but have since evolved into modern logistical and command centres integrated into NATO’s collective defence structure.

Despite their strategic role, the scale of the American presence has become a subject of debate in recent years.

Recent discussions about possible troop reductions in Eastern Europe have heightened concerns among NATO allies about maintaining deterrence near the alliance’s eastern flank.

More than 1,400 Filipinos across the Middle East have asked to be repatriated as conflict in the region intensifies, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday. Speaking at Malacañang, Marcos said 1,416 nationals had requested assistance, including 10 in Iran, 297 in Israel, 22 in Jordan, 231 in Bahrain and 856 in the United Arab Emirates, covering Dubai and Abu Dhabi. However, he said repatriation efforts were hampered by airport closures and airspace restrictions, with several facilities reportedly targeted in retaliatory strikes.

Marcos hosts South Korea’s Lee for talks on defence and trade

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday received South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Malacañang for a two-day state visit focused on strengthening defence, maritime security and economic ties. The visit is the first by a South Korean leader since the Philippines–Republic of Korea free trade agreement took effect on December 31, 2024. The leaders held bilateral talks with senior cabinet officials and are set to witness the signing of agreements and issue a joint statement. Lee’s trip, marking 77 years of diplomatic relations, comes amid heightened Middle East tensions and follows his visit to Singapore.

Philippines says US-access sites not involved in Middle East conflict

Philippine defence officials said military facilities accessible to US forces under a bilateral pact are not involved in the escalating conflict between Washington, Israel and Iran, dismissing claims they could become targets. Arsenio Andolong, spokesman for the Department of National Defense, said some groups were exploiting the crisis to stoke “fear and apprehension” over sites covered by the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which grants US forces rotational access to nine Philippine bases. He stressed the facilities remain Philippine-owned and are used for joint training, disaster response and national defence. “The Philippines is not a participant in the theatre of conflict,” Andolong said, adding there was no credible direct threat to EDCA locations.

Malaysian, Filipino killed in helicopter crash

A Malaysian national was killed and another injured when a Bell 505 helicopter carrying five people crashed in Pililla, Rizal province, east of Manila, on Tuesday morning. A Filipino passenger also died after the aircraft went down in a vacant lot at about 7.27am while en route from Manila to Quezon province. Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Datuk Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino said the deceased’s identity had been confirmed and next of kin informed. The embassy is providing consular assistance, while the injured Malaysian is receiving hospital treatment. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has launched an investigation.

Marcos weighs temporary fuel tax cut as oil nears $80

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday he is considering seeking congressional authority to temporarily reduce excise taxes on petroleum products if Dubai crude rises above $80 a barrel, as prices climb amid the Middle East conflict. Marcos described the plan as an emergency measure, not a permanent policy, to cushion consumers from sustained price shocks. House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III said lawmakers were open to studying possible amendments to grant the President such powers.

The raid began in the early morning hours as U.S. forces struck key military infrastructure around the Venezuelan capital to disable air defenses. Special operations troops then moved in on Maduro’s compound, capturing him and his wife, Cilia Flores, before flying them out of the country to face charges in New York , where they remain detained.

The operation abruptly removed a leader who had ruled the oil-rich South American nation for more than a decade and had long been a target of U.S. sanctions and criminal indictments tied to alleged narcotics trafficking. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was later sworn in as acting president following Maduro’s capture.

Less than two months later, another Saturday operation sent shock waves across the Middle East .

On February 28, U.S. forces launched “Operation Epic Fury,” a sweeping air and missile campaign targeting Iran’s military infrastructure and leadership. It followed what “preemptive” strikes launched by Israel . 

The strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s most powerful political and religious figure, who had led the country since 1989.

The attack hit hundreds of targets, including missile facilities and command centers, and triggered retaliatory strikes by Iran against U.S. and allied positions across the region.

Khamenei’s death has plunged Iran into its most severe leadership crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with an interim council now overseeing the country while authorities determine a successor.

Together, the two operations underscore a striking pattern in the early months of Trump’s presidency: the direct use of U.S. military power to remove foreign leaders from power.

It also marks a stark contrast with Trump’s pledge to be a “president of peace,” a theme he emphasized during his 2024 campaign by repeatedly claiming he would end “un-endable wars.”

In his victory speech that year, Trump said: “I’m not going to start wars. I’m going to stop wars.”

Trump has since framed his approach as pursuing “peace through strength.”

Yet within eight weeks — and on two separate Saturdays — Washington helped bring down two governments thousands of miles apart, from Caracas to Tehran.

According to investigators, U.S. service members were offered payments to enter into fake marriages. The arrangement typically involved an upfront cash payment, a second payment once the Chinese national secured legal residency, and a final payment after the couple divorced.

Fox News reported that suspects staged photographs and created documents to make the marriages appear genuine when presenting applications to immigration officials.

“This investigation underscores the critical role that Homeland Security Investigations plays in protecting our nation from transnational criminal organisations that seek to exploit our customs and immigration laws and threaten our national security ,” said HSI Tampa acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Cochran. 

The alleged sham marriages took place in several states, including Florida, New York , Connecticut and Nevada.

Five individuals were charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud between March 2024 and February 2025. Some of them also face additional charges, including bribery conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors allege that three of the suspects attempted to bribe a public official connected to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida. One U.S. Navy reservist allegedly asked whether an insider could issue real but unauthorised military identification cards in exchange for payment. The plan was reported to the authorities, leading to further investigation.

Four former U.S. Navy service members have pleaded guilty to charges linked to the scheme.

US officials say the equipment posed a direct national security risk because it relied on American-origin software and technical data, and was intended to strengthen China’s ability to track and counter US submarines in the Pacific.

What is TFASA?  

TFASA is a South Africa–based company founded in 2003 with support from the South African government to promote aviation cooperation with China. It specialises in military flight testing and pilot training, operating facilities in both South Africa and China.

According to its own website, TFASA has trained Chinese military pilots for both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) standards. US authorities allege the firm went further by recruiting former NATO pilots and transferring restricted operational knowledge to China’s military.

The Justice Department says TFASA “masquerades as a civilian flight-training academy” while acting as a conduit for transferring Western military expertise and technology to the PLA.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg insisted that “The National Security Division will continue to act decisively to preserve the U.S. military’s qualitative edge by preventing U.S. technology from falling into the hands of our adversaries."

What are the mission crew trainers?

The seized MCTs are mobile simulators designed to train air crews in complex missions, particularly anti-submarine warfare. Court documents say the trainers were modelled on the P-8 Poseidon, a Boeing-manufactured aircraft that serves as the US Navy’s primary maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare platform.

The trainers were built to run custom software developed by TFASA under a programme known internally as “Project Elgar.” The software was based on a flight simulation platform developed by a US company and enhanced using defence-related technical data tied to Western anti-submarine warfare aircraft, including the P-8.

US prosecutors say the goal of Project Elgar was to improve the PLA’s ability to locate and track US submarines operating in the Pacific , a core element of American naval strategy.

Why the US intervened

US officials say the transfer violated export control laws designed to prevent sensitive military technology from reaching adversaries.

“This seizure demonstrates the ongoing threat that China and its enablers pose to the national security of the United States,” said Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia. Other officials warned that the alleged activities could endanger US service members by eroding America’s military advantage.

TFASA response

In a statement the TFASA said the containers cited were basic equipment. The statement read in part, “containers in question were basic mobile classroom units and did not comprise or represent any form of tactical simulators, advanced systems, or any classified, sensitive, or mission-specific, tailored military training capabilities; they were limited to non-sensitive, procedural and instructional use, using publicly available and commercially licensed inputs, and were designed as mission crew training (MCT) systems aimed at supporting crew resource management (CRM) functions within maritime patrol aviation environments.”  

What follows is a country-by-country breakdown based on verified reporting.

Afghanistan

Bombed by: Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden

Why:

Afghanistan was bombed continuously from 2001 until the US withdrawal in 2021. Even after the formal end of the war, Biden authorised airstrikes, including the August 2021 Kabul drone strike that killed 10 civilians , later acknowledged by the Pentagon.

Iraq

Bombed by: Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden

Why:

Iraq remains one of the longest-running theatres of US air operations , spanning two decades despite the formal declarations of war ending.

Syria

Bombed by: Obama, Trump, Biden

Why:

The US has never declared war on Syria, yet airstrikes have continued under three administrations without congressional authorisation.

Yemen

Bombed by: Obama, Trump, Biden

Why:

Yemen became one of the most drone-bombed countries in the world, with repeated civilian casualty reports.

Somalia

Bombed by: Obama, Trump, Biden

Why:

Somalia has seen some of the least transparent US air operations, with casualty investigations often delayed or disputed.

Libya

Bombed by: Obama, Trump

Why:

Libya illustrates how a humanitarian intervention evolved into long-term instability, with US airstrikes continuing after regime change.

Pakistan

Bombed by: Bush, Obama, Trump

Why:

Pakistan was central to the CIA’s drone programme, particularly under Obama, who authorised more strikes there than any other president.

Nigeria

Bombed by: Trump

Why:

On 3 January 2026, U.S. forces launched what the White House dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, an air and special forces mission in Venezuela that resulted in the capture and removal of President Nicolás Maduro from power.

The South American leader has since been flown to the United States to face federal charges related to alleged narco-terrorism and weapons offences. He is set to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday, January 5.

This marks the most forceful direct intervention by the United States in the region since the late 20th century, and it has triggered immediate global reaction.

Leaders across Latin America , Europe and beyond have condemned the operation as a violation of international law and a threat to regional sovereignty, while some U.S. lawmakers argue the White House bypassed Congress in authorising the action.

Since World War II, the U.S. has intervened in multiple South American countries. Venezuela now stands alongside Peru (1963, 1990), Bolivia (1971, 2019), Chile (1964, 1973), Paraguay (1954, 1989), Argentina (1976), Uruguay (1973), and Brazil (1964) in episodes where U.S. military pressure, support or direct action shaped national politics.

Those earlier episodes include Cold War-era coups and covert operations, often linked with U.S. fears of Soviet influence and domestic leftist movements.

One notorious example was Operation Condor, a coordinated campaign in the 1970s by several South American dictatorships (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil), which received tacit U.S. backing and targeted dissidents across borders.

The Trump administration has framed its 2026 intervention as part of a broader campaign against drug trafficking and threats to U.S. security, building on months of strikes against drug smuggling infrastructure and naval blockades.

Rodríguez said the presence of US forces in the Caribbean amounts to “ military aggression” and warned that the deployment should be viewed as a regional issue rather than a bilateral dispute. According to her statement, the threat extends to all Latin American and Caribbean nations, which she urged to adopt a common stance.

Addressing the governments of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil directly, Rodríguez called for political coordination in the face of US security policy. She said Venezuela has been prepared “for more than two centuries” to defend regional sovereignty and appealed to leaders Gustavo Petro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Claudia Sheinbaum to strengthen unity.

The Vice President additionally criticised opposition figure María Corina Machado’s recent Nobel Peace Prize, calling it a “blood-stained award.” Tensions between Caracas and Washington have intensified since August, when the Trump government began deploying military forces to the Caribbean, allegedly to combat drug trafficking —an accusation Venezuela rejects as a pretext for “imperialism” and attempted “regime change.”

“Well, it's very interesting because the current US administration, President Trump, has talked openly about having a covert action plan to stem the flow of drugs to the United States,” Flynn said. 

She noted the unusual decision to speak publicly about such plans, given that “normally in the past, covert action means it's covert, and we don't talk about it.”

Flynn cautioned that the implications could extend well beyond counter-narcotics work. 

“If the US administration is thinking of this covert action as doing something beyond stemming the flow of drugs, but are also thinking of regime change, that's something that I think that you have to think long and hard about,” she said, adding that such efforts require “sufficient domestic support, including the military .”

She argued that analysts were wrong to treat US interference as unprecedented, pointing to both the Bay of Pigs fiasco and anti-drug operations in South America . 

“A lot of the commentators have said … nothing like this has ever happened. And yet there was a Peruvian shoot-down programme in Peru that ran in the nineties and through the early, very early two thousands,” she said.

On whether Nicolás Maduro’s government could be toppled, Flynn was sceptical. 

“It would take a lot. And simply because the military seems to support him,” she said. Foreign backers such as Iran and Russia were weakened, she noted, but “the bottom line is regime change is really hard,” requiring “a mass uprising supported by the military and the security services” to succeed.

Watch the full interview:

"I think the attack was very important on Iran, because let's say that didn't happen, they'd probably by now have a nuclear weapon, numerous nuclear weapons," Trump said. "And therefore, even if we signed a deal, there'd be a big, dark cloud over it, and it wouldn't be the same thing."

Trump said that Iran had since shown a willingness to engage in diplomacy. "Iran is different. But Iran wants to work on peace now," he added. "They've informed us, and they've acknowledged that they are totally in favour of this deal. They think it's a great thing. So we appreciate that. And we'll work with Iran."