Permanent US military bases in Iraq was always the plan

[Woodstock]

When you look back, you'll discover that the Pentagon has been planning for the creation of a future Iraqi military of only 40,000 soldiers, relatively lightly armed and without any air force at all, since at least the end of the war, if not before it. Certainly, this was the plan even before L. Paul Bremer demobilized what was left of Saddam's 400,000 man military. And the 40,000 figure and the description of the nature of the force to be built have not, as far as I can tell, varied to this day. Forget "sovereignty," forget "democracy"; all you need to know is this to grasp our plans in Iraq. In such a heavily-armed neighborhood, an army of 40,000 with no air force or heavy weaponry is perhaps a border-patrolling force or a force meant to put down domestic opposition, but not a force meant to defend the country. It's obvious that, as far as the Pentagon and the administration are concerned, our military is clearly the real force being prepared to defend Iraq till hell freezes over -- from a series of permanent bases in that country, backed by a Status of Forces Agreement that, when negotiated with the new ruling body, will put the actions of our troops outside the purview of the local courts.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0315-08.htm

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Yup...

"forward bases" for the worldwide "projection of American military force" -- direct from a PNAC report.

[K-W]

2. Not the only one though,

but yes, it was always of immense importance to get US military power in the middle east. Isreal was a good tool for us, but it can only do so much to control the region. A US puppet gov in Iraq with a US base in Iraq would make the US a direct player in the region.

[donsu]

3. yes, way back they said they wanted 4 bases

4 military bases and an embassy with 4000 employees.

they already moved the military command from N. Fl. to one of those small countries they own - Quttar, Kuwait?

Why?

for the bloody hands bushgang to better run that part of the world.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Iraq is just the beginning of this round I'm afraid . .

.
.
.

"Published in September 2000 (prior to the Bush inauguration), PNAC’s manifesto is entitled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century.”

This report anticipates, step-by-step, the foreign policy of President George W. Bush: withdrawal from the ABM treaty; development of small, tactical nuclear weapons; ending the self-imposed moratorium on US nuclear testing; increasing the defense budget; and permanent allocation of US forces around the globe as “constabulary missions” (global policing).

The report’s core policy recommendation is to “Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous, major theater wars.”

Topping the target list are three old enemies that previously were at war with the US and survived intact: the regimes of Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

Regarding ‘”regime change” in Iraq, the report makes US priorities explicit: “. . . the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.”

This sheds light on why the Bush administration is pushing to go to war even when Iraq has agreed to weapons inspections.

Additionally, while control of Iraq’s oil is certainly a motive for invading Iraq, the report also proposes military expansion in regions where oil is not a part of the equation. Thus, according to author Steve Fine, “the resource is the relative factor while the military policy of expanding bases remains the constant.”

Reading this document, it becomes apparent that the primary goal of invading Iraq is the expansion of more US military bases in the region, in order to turn not just Iraq but the entire Middle East into an American protectorate.


More at http://www.speakingformyself.net/wyomingdissent/cli.pdf

Note: An alternate (longer) version of this article with references is available on line at: www.endthewar.org/cli1.htm

More articles with plenty of info at the following link

http://www.speakingformyself.net/wyomingdissent/printfliers.htm