The Dharan base was built for oil access despite having no military use

Evidence

At the war’s end, a partially completed base in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, illustrated the link between bases and economic interests, foreshadowing decades of Middle Eastern intervention to come. By June 1945, Germany had surrendered, and the military had determined that there was no need to use Dharan for the war against Japan. Still, the secretaries of war, state, and the navy pushed to continue construction at the site, arguing that “immediate construction of this field used initially for military purposes and ultimately for civil aviation would be a strong showing of American interest in Saudi Arabia and thus tend to strengthen the political integrity of that country where vast oil reserves now are in American hands.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 81

Categorization

• XREF: The first U.S. base in the Middle East, explicitly justified by oil — roots of the region’s base entanglement the book details later.
• SEED: Angle for an essay: the Dharan airstrip as the original template for U.S. Middle Eastern basing justified by oil even when militarily unnecessary.