Iraq Facilities -- Nothing But the Best

This article by Sarah Meyer, a researcher living in Sussex, UK, was originally published on 3 April 2006 on Index Research. I added the headings for emphasis.

A 20 April 2003 report in The New York Times asserted that "the U.S. is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region." The report, citing anonymous sources, referred to one base at Baghdad's international airport, another near Al-Nasiriyah in the south [presumably meaning Tallil AB], the third at the H-1 airstrip in the western desert, and the fourth at Bashur AB in the north.

WHAT?? OH, MY VIRGIN EARS!

There had been several statements at that time about the possible duration of the US military presence in Iraq. Mr. Richard Perle mentioned six months; Ahmad Chalabi, two years.

American officials have tried to make the point that the US presence in Iraq will not be a permanent or long-term one. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a 21 April 2003 press conference said that any suggestion that the United States is planning a permanent military presence in Iraq is "inaccurate and unfortunate." Rumsfeld said, "I have never, that I can recall, heard the subject of a permanent base in Iraq discussed in any meeting. ... The likelihood of it seems to me to be so low that it does not surprise me that it's never been discussed in my presence, to my knowledge.”

DO YOU BELIEVE RUMMY OR YOUR LYIN’ EYES?

On 23 March 2004, it was reported that "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 number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, between 105,000 and 110,000, is expected to remain unchanged through 2006… the US plans to operate from former Iraqi bases in Baghdad, Mosul, Taji, Balad, Kirkuk, and in areas near Nasiriyah, near Tikrit, near Fallujah, and between Irbil and Kirkuk ... and to enhance airfields in Baghdad and Mosul..."

By May 2005, the Washington Post reported that plans called for consolidating American troops in Iraq into four large air bases: Tallil in the south, Al Asad in the west, Balad in the center, and either Irbil or Qayyarah in the north. Eventually, US units would be concentrated at these four fortified strategic hubs, from which they could provide logistical support and emergency combat assistance. Each base would support a brigade combat team, along with aviation and other support personnel.

Initially referred to as "enduring bases" in 2004, these four bases were redesignated as "Contingency Operating Bases" in February 2005. The consolidation plan entails construction of long-lasting facilities, such as barracks and offices built of concrete blocks, rather than the metal trailers and buildings that are found at the larger US bases. The buildings are designed to withstand direct mortar strikes. Initial funding was provided in the $82 billion supplemental appropriations bill approved by Congress in May 2005.

JUST SO LONG AS THEY ARE NOT PERMANENT BASES…

The longer term plan for US Central Command calls for "strategic overwatch" from bases in Kuwait.

As of mid-May 2005, it was reported that US forces occupied a total of 106 bases. These ranged in size from the massive Camp Victory complex near the Baghdad airport to small outposts with as few as 500 soldiers. The US also operates four detention facilities and several other convoy support centers. In the first five months of 2005, US forces had turned over 13 small facilities in Baghdad to Iraqi military or police units.

The US military has hunkered down, moving into the isolated compounds and bases that Saddam Hussein's security forces used to protect themselves from internal enemies. Thus, US forces are most readily attacked when they leave those bases to go out on patrol or in convoys.

In January 2005, it was reported that the Pentagon was building a permanent military communications system in Iraq. The new Central Iraq Microwave System is to consist of up to 12 communications towers throughout Iraq, along with fiber-optic cables connecting Camp Victory to other coalition bases in the country.

There is Pentagon and US governmental obfuscation surrounding United States permanent bases in Iraq. Whilst Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense, continues to deny a permanent US presence there, the facts appear to contradict his statements.

In February 2005, Rumsfeld reported again to the Senate Armed Services Committee that "we have no intention, at the present time, of putting permanent bases in Iraq.”

In April 2005, a new report from the Congressional Research Service, commissioned by Congressman Dennis Kuchinich, showed “that the United States is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the construction of ‘long-term’ bases in Iraq … some projects … suggest substantial U.S. investment to improve facilities that could be used for the longer-term.” These long-term projects in Iraq include $214 million for the Balad Air Base and $49 million for the Taji Military Complex.