‘US Will not Completely Retreat from Iraq’

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=26839

‘US Will not Completely Retreat from Iraq’
By Celil Sagir
Published: Sunday, November 27, 2005
zaman.com


The US Administration signaled to decrease the number of US troops in Iraq due to increasing public opposition and the developments in Iraq.

Joshua Muravchik from American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where Neoconservatives have the majority, said the US will never retreat completely from Iraq. Muravchik evaluated the latest developments to Zaman and said there will be no retreat from Iraq as long as the Bush administration continues. If the Iraqi army can reach a certain level the number of US troops in Iraq may be decreased. Muravchik disclosed if retreat is perceived as completely leaving Iraq this will not happen even after the Bush administration. Muravchik also noted if the Iraq administration demands the US army may pull out from Iraq however, this kind of a demand does not seem to be possible at this point. AEI authority emphasized the US is against the idea of independent Kurdistan and added it is normal that the CIA has secret detention centers.

:mad:

:(

..even though actual "Military" numbers "appear" to come home. The two are separate. The Admin. is doing a slippery slight-of-hand here. First, they're primarily promisingto withdraw essentially the extra troops recently sent in for the Election. They are ONLY counting actual Military (NOT Contractors) who will truly be in charge of rebuilding, oil-profiteering and money-laundering, etc.

Whether they're Miliary or not, Contractors are STILL U.S. citizens dying for this misguided "cause." And they're still someone's husband, father, brother. Who's counting the dead Contractors? Deplorable as their missions may be, where do they show up in the Military Dead numbers?

And in terms of Contractors, we'll NEVER be out of the region.

The US troops know as well, but I don't feel sorry for any merc who goes there, leaving behind loved ones that need them. What kind of sense of responsibility is that?

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... 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.

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like crazy, but where is it being stored? The only pipeline that is not routinely bombed is the one to Israel. Are they holding it for us? For themselves? I know Israel has neither oil nor water and they are desperate for both.

The US knows it will eventually be run out of Iraq so they need to get as much oil out as possible, where are they sending it?

He can read the tea leaves?
Aren't these the same twits that planned and orchestrated this mess?
What have they been correct about so far?
Anything?

At a basic level, that about sums up the Bush administration's motivation to attack a sovereign nation.

You can't pump democracy into an SUV tank.


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edit: sp.

there. Bad things. Things we don't hear about except as rumors. And it's the height of arrogance and ignorance to think that we can control that country forever. Not like we control it now. But for years and years? No. Even less so then we do now.

When we left VietNam, didn't we pack up our bags and leave for good?

We are leaving. In humiliation. All that's left is the spin.

"Muravchik disclosed if retreat is perceived as completely leaving Iraq this will not happen even after the Bush administration."

There it is in all its glory - a statement confirming a permanent US presence in Iraq.

:mad:

I wonder if someone will have the intestinal fortitude to ask little Scottie McClellan about this at the next WH briefing.

Impeach the bastard now so we can bring the troops home now.

AEI is deciding policy now - not the American people. This man is about as unpatriotic as one can become.

these punks are so goofy it's scary...

Right, none, soon we'll be having a helicopter moment in Baghdad just like Saigon.

lots of oil. I predict many more lives gone and billions spent trying to keep US hands on that oil before the Saigon repeat.

of the United States are in for a rude awakening.

They have so depleted America's resources in trying to control the oil fields of the middle east that we are no longer economically able to stand up to China.

China is willing and able to pay more for the oil and China's thirst for oil is increasing daily. The Iraqi's are businessmen and will simply change their little fake constitution to kick out the US and UK Oil Companies that control Iraq's oil distribution channels.

The US is doomed by this completely incompetent and puerile administration.

That we're going to withdraw is one of the most jaw-dropping bits of groupthink on both the right and the left. Even after every drop of oil's sucked out, we'll be there to buttress Israel unless the world is very, very different by then.

"The terrorists want to control the oil. Our way of life will be at risk". George W. Bush (Nov. 2005)