14 Bases in Iraq? Links?

[ewagner]

I heard some RWer on WPR yesterday afternoon talking about "Iraq Sovereignty". A caller questioned whether the building of 14 bases in Iraq would really give the Iraq government sovereignty and the guest said he had heard only "rumors" of these bases being built.

Does anybody have any links to the base building issue?

[wiggs]

1. And what happens if

...Iraq asks us to leave in a year? Do we abandon them?

Good and important question. Did we have plans for bases that were abandoned once we saw resistance reality on the ground? Did we start to build them and give up when we started saying we would leave if asked? Are we building them no matter what?

I'm tempted to believe other things I've read about abandoning bases in Saudi Arabia, causing the need for bases in Iraq. If we are continuing to build, then our statement that we would leave if asked would be shown for the falsehood it is. People who have been saying that we are there for at least decades would be shown to be correct.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. 14 "Enduring Bases" Set in Iraq

This appears to be a reprint of a story originally published in the Chicago Tribune.

From the ashes of abandoned Iraqi army bases, U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years. Last year, as troops poured over the Kuwait border to invade Iraq, the U.S. military set up at least 120 forward operating bases. Then came hundreds of expeditionary and temporary bases that were to last between six months and a year for tactical operations while providing soldiers with such comforts as e-mail and Internet access.

Now U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq for at least two years. The bases also would be key outposts for Bush administration policy advisers.(my emphasis /jc)

As the U.S. scales back its military presence in Saudi Arabia, Iraq provides an option for an administration eager to maintain a robust military presence in the Middle East and intent on a muscular approach to seeding democracy in the region. The number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, between 105,000 and 110,000, is expected to remain unchanged through 2006, according to military planners.

"Is this a swap for the Saudi bases?" asked Army Brig. Gen. Robert Pollman, chief engineer for base construction in Iraq. "I don't know. ... When we talk about enduring bases here, we're talking about the present operation, not in terms of America's global strategic base. But this makes sense. It makes a lot of logical sense."

www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/occupation/2004/0323bases.htm

[ewagner]

3. Thank you

bookmarked the link.