Untitled Document
In his first debate with President Bush, John Kerry made a surprisingly bold assertion
about US policy toward Iraq: "I think a critical component of success in
Iraq is being able to convince the Iraqis and the Arab world that the United States
doesn't have long-term designs on it," Kerry said. "As I understand
it, we're building some 14 military bases there now, and some people say they've
got a rather permanent concept to them."
Though the media ignored Kerry's statement and failed to do any substantive
follow-up research, his comments were well-grounded in reality. On the day of
the debate the Christian Science Monitor spotlighted the findings of defense
specialist John Pike, whose website, GlobalSecurity.org, located twelve "enduring
bases" in Iraq, including satellite photos and names. In March, the Chicago
Tribune reported that US engineers were constructing fourteen such long-term
encampments--the number Kerry referred to. The New York Times previously placed
the number at four.
While the exact figure may change, suspicions of undisclosed US imperial plans--exemplified
by permanent military bases--rightfully linger. Before the war, Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz suggested moving US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia
into Iraq. In October, a survey by the University of Maryland's Program on International
Policy Attitudes found that two-thirds of respondents disapproved of a permanent
military presence, even though more than half thought the US would build the
bases anyway.
Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon
is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary
foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve
communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other
existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US
bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.
"People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being
in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached,"
Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra
point man), told the Sun.
The fabled "exit strategy" may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a
defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication
system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American
troops remain today. "The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should
be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region," Donnelly
wrote in an AEI policy paper.
Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand
plans in mind.
