WP: Commanders Plan Eventual Consolidation of U.S. Bases in Iraq

Commanders Plan Eventual Consolidation of U.S. Bases in Iraq

By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 22, 2005; Page A27

BAGHDAD -- U.S. military commanders have prepared plans to consolidate American troops in Iraq into four large air bases as they look ahead to giving up more than 100 other bases now occupied by international forces, officers said.

Several officers involved in drafting the consolidation plan said it entailed the construction of longer-lasting facilities at the sites, including barracks and office structures made of concrete block instead of the metal trailers and tin-sheathed buildings that have become the norm at bigger U.S. bases in Iraq.

The new, sturdier buildings will give the bases a more permanent character, the officers acknowledged. But they said the consolidation plan was not meant to establish a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Instead, they said, it is part of a withdrawal expected to occur in phases, with Iraqi forces gradually taking over many of the bases inhabited by U.S. and other foreign troops. Eventually, U.S. units would end up concentrated at the four heavily fortified, strategically located hubs, enabling them to provide continued logistical support and emergency combat assistance, the officers said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/21/AR2005052100611.html

Aaron Glantz – AntiWar.com April 14, 2005

In Baghdad yesterday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters the U.S. has no "exit strategy" for the country – just a "victory strategy." That statement seems in line with the sentiment of most lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They're posed to approve another $80 billion for American military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Included in the request is money to construct 14 "enduring" military bases in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

Middle east bases
now




future bases

shows no US bases in Iraq, yet the article says we now have about 100 of them. Makes you question the validity of this map that they've published.

in the lower map of Iraq are pointing towards 'Iran' not a good omen ..... :think: and to quote John Bolton again "real men go to Tehran" Peace. :freak:

At last we have a withdrawal plan... pull back into 4 bases and Kuwait and let nature take its course in Iraq... I think the pull out is planned about as well as the occupation was!

... to be replaced by a small broom closet.

... to be replaced by nothing at all, once we're kicked off their land.

To sally forth on occasion, sewing death and retribution among the Iraqi population if they mistreat their puppet rulers too much.

And to protect the oil fields, if they ever get them up and running.

Plus, some nice bases to plan and execute raids on neighboring countries which also prominently display the character string IRA in their names.

:eyes: Our soldiers will be there for "generations".

Jeez, we're LOSING, for Chrissakes. How can they be planning how to colonize it already?

...and opening them in Iraq, but US taxpayers still get to pay for them.

None have seen hide nor hair of the Romans in Britain in 1500 years ....

Remains of Crusader fortifications at Caeserea:










And so it goes: Nature shall retake what is hers ....

So now they say "enduring bases? 14 of them? No, the thought never even entered our mind, honest.

At a cost of 250 billion each.
Spreading The Word:
It's hard work, but it's worth it!!!

When...when... when will someone stop these
bastards? How much longer will this be allowed to continue?
How much longer CAN it continue?

all our troops into four megabases, and from those enclaves we will continue to taunt, bait, and threaten the neighboring countries -- one of which is supposedly developing nuclear weaponry and possibly possesses short-range missiles capable of carrying a nuclear device.

Why are visions of the Beirut barracks flashing in my head, and why can't I get Pearl Harbor to recede from my mind?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1490063,00.html

US military commanders are planning to pull back their troops from Iraq's towns and cities and redeploy them in four giant bases in a strategy they say is a prelude to eventual withdrawal.

The plan, details of which emerged at the weekend, also foresees a transfer to Iraqi command of more than 100 bases that have been occupied by US-led multinational forces since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

However, the decision to in vest in the bases, which will require the construction of more permanent structures such as blast-proof barracks and offices, is seen by some as a sign that the US expects to keep a permanent presence in Iraq.

Politicians opposed to a long-term US presence on Iraqi soil questioned the plan.

"They appear to settling in a for the long run, and that will only give fuel for the terrorists," said a spokesman for the mainstream Sunni Iraqi Islamic party. <snip>

Maybe the plan is to just dig in and wait for (provoke?) a major regional (global?) war to wipe out most of the population w/ nuke or bio so that the oil can be gotten out without having to deal with all those troublesome Iraqis.

sounds like a plan