By the end of the 19th century, the USA was a 7th rate power. We needed bases outside the USA to become a world power, so we looked around to see who we could beat, and up comes Spain. They had those bases all around the world and we wanted them. So, with the help of the yellow journalist, Wm. Randolph Hurst who published false horror stories about Spain's atrocities in Cuba, and the trumped up attack on the battle ship Maine, we went to war and took over Spain's bases.
We are still in Cuba and the Phillipines after almost 100 years. It will be the same with the middle east. We have 700 bases around the world. When is enough enough?