Iraq War: Air of permanence

While most Americans are focused on how soon U.S. troops can get out of Iraq, the Army and Air Force are pouring an awful lot of concrete there.

An Associated Press investigative report suggests that there is a certain air of permanence to the military construction we're doing in Iraq. Massive development at several U.S. outposts raises the prospect that the administration may be contemplating the U.S. installations designed to outlast insurgency and the creation of a stable Iraqi government.

The administration may see strategic advantages to a U.S. military footprint in the oil-rich but volatile Middle East. It would give the military more "punch" than aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and perhaps deter aggression by Iran.

But the risks are vast. U.S. military presence in the Middle East was among the rationale claimed by Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks. The establishment of long-term U.S. bases would shatter the administration's claim that Americans are in Iraq as "liberators, not occupiers."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/263793_basesed.asp