The song denounces American military intervention in foreign affairs. The song has been used many times to demonstrate the view of Peter Garrett selling out, as the Australian Labor Party, including Garrett himself, currently support the current Australian-American security alliance, along with the war in Afghanistan. Others might argue that political policy shouldn't be bound to what was in a song lyric several decades earlier.

In 1983, for the "Stop The Drop" concert video, Peter Garrett, the lead singer, explained the song to the crowded audience:

"Midnight Oil are here today because we're concerned about the issue of nuclear disarmament. And I think when we're in Europe, we realized how close people were to becoming to understand that, if the Russians or the Americans decided that they were actually going to set something off, they would be faced with the possibility that they may have nuclear warheads detonated in their backyard, or in their laundry. And so we became aware of the nuclear thing, and when we got back here we started to think about it, and get concerned about it. People in Australia are unaware that nuclear devices have been detonated here at Maralinga in the early fifties, and they're unaware of the facilities that the Americans have put here, which are used in their defense network and their attack network. And the Oils - we want to keep on making music, and we want people to keep on enjoying it, so, consequently, we think its very important to come and play and to dance and to learn and that's why we're here."

"US Forces" was later released on 20,000 Watt R.S.L., which was released in 1997.

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Wikipedia