US Forces planning for the long haul in Iraq

[katty]

excerpt: http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_1682065,00050001.htm

A report in Newsweek said that the 38 square kilometres mini-city and airport Balad was the evidence that American forces were preparing for the long haul.

With 27,500 landings and takeoffs a month, Balad is second only to London's Heathrow Airport in traffic worldwide, Brig Gen Frank Gorenc, the base commander, was quoted as saying.

Gorenc said he was "normalising" the giant Balad airfield, or gradually rebuilding it to US military specifications.

The Saddam-era concrete is considered too substandard for the F-16s, C-130s and other aircraft that fly in and out so regularly that they crack the tarmac.

"It's safe to say Balad will be here for a long time," says Gorenc, who, the magazine stressed, felt at home in Iraqi skies, where the Air Force has been having its way since the first Gulf War.

[pocket]

1. building brothels is a a tip off

they'll be there a long time.

[ShortnFiery]

2. This is sick!

:wtf: do they think this is: A friggin' TRANE Commercial!?!

"We're in it for the long haul (of a budding blood bath of a civil war)."

:wtf: is wrong with these ghoulish bastards? :puke: