The US military prizes territories precisely for their lack of democratic rights

Evidence

At the urging of the military after the war, the government maintained its control over possessions once called colonies, including Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as “territories” of the United States. These islands have neither full independence nor the full democratic rights that would come with incorporation into the United States. They highlight how, even in the twenty-first century, our base nation still relies on the perpetuation of colonial relationships, albeit under new guises and with new vocabulary. From the military’s perspective, Guam and the other territories offer unmatched autonomy. “This is not Okinawa,” Major General Dennis Larsen told a reporter at Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base. “This is American soil in the midst of the Pacific. Guam is a U.S. territory. We can do what we want here, and make huge investments without fear of being thrown out.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 231

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The military’s candid rationale for wanting disenfranchised territories — freedom from accountability — crystallizes how denying democratic rights serves the base nation’s interest, a dense point worth returning to.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 231
• XREF: connects to: Even the United States falls short of full democratic protection — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 528