US Won't Give Iraq "Big Guns". And Admits to "Semi-Permanent" Iraq Bases!

[leftchick]

This article tells a lot about the real future of Iraq and the US presence. It will be for years. Perhaps decades!

Big Guns For Iraq? Not So Fast

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/weekinreview/28smith.html

<snip>

And that presents a conundrum for American military planners. With those questions up in the air, they have to fear that any heavy arms distributed now could end up aimed at American forces or feeding a growing civil conflict. And the longer Iraq's army has to wait for sophisticated weapons, the longer American forces are likely to be needed in Iraq as a bulwark against chaos.

In public, the commanders cite many reasons for the slow pace of equipping the Iraqis: the supply chain is long, Iraq's soldiers are barely trained and largely untested, and the rebels they face are better fought with rifles than tanks.

In private, some officers acknowledge other concerns, too. "We're worried about civil war or a coup," said a senior American officer in Baghdad charged with outfitting Iraq's new army. He would not agree to be identified because the concerns he was discussing are so sensitive.




What They Have
Iraqi soldiers carry the AK-47 (top), a Russian-designed assault rifle used by armies and guerrilla forces for half a century.

What They Want
The more powerful American-made M4, which American troops carry in Iraq and which can accommodate a laser-aiming device and night-vision sight.



and get this admission of "semi-permanent bases"!

<snip>

At the same time, the Americans are building at least four semi-permanent military bases that could hold 18,000 troops each. These are usually described as way stations on the eventual route home for the Americans, places where they will stay while ever-more-capable Iraqi troops engage the insurgents on their own. But that will clearly take time. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top military commander in Iraq, when asked this month about how the bases would be used, dismissed the question: "You're talking years away." And if Iraq's politics remain unstable, the bases could offer a continuing rationale for not providing heavier weaponry, since the Americans would still be close by for the Iraqis to rely on.

[Roland99]

1. 72,000 US troops staying in Iraq?

DAMN!

[RPM]

2. well - the admin lying sacks of shit said "a generational commitment"

perhaps they weren't lying (this time)

[wakeme2008]

3. Oh Bushy the new government may

not want you staying around that long...

[hadrons]

4. I hope someone sends this article to those 3 dumbass Generals on MTP ....

save for Clark who knew what he was talking about

[leftchick]

13. Sen. Warner is having a hearing with rummy

when the senate gets back in session. It would be nice if this was pushed in rum dum's face and he was actually confronted with his lies.

[blm]

19. Warner is often had by BushInc.

He treats them as if they're honorable.

[blm]

5. Kerry keeps pointing out that its the building of US bases that Iraqis

are rightly angered about as they send a clear signal that the US intends to remain as an occupying force.

It doesn't matter what Bush says, it's his actions Iraqis are weighing and his actions are completely different than his "We want to turn over power to Iraqis as soon as possible" rhetoric.

Kerry and Gen. Clark have told Bush for two years to stop building permanent bases and the media ignores this crucial point and won't even bring it up as an important topic of discussion reIraq.

[Frustratedlady]

12. Anyone Know WHO

is building these bases? One constant you can depend on is that Bushcorp will do everything in their power to fulfill the contracts of the favored companies, no matter what.

Can't we peons demand an accounting of these companies? IS there even a bean counter who's watching these companies? From what I've seen of Haliburton's recordkeeping, they are cheating big time and no one is holding them accountable. We presently have so many "in your face" instances, it is unreal. Oh, well! Don't get me started.....

[leftchick]

14. It is not just bases either! The US is buildinga huge communication system

I imagine the contrators for this are the usual suspects. :grr:

<snip>

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.


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?pid=2132

[blm]

15. And they're only getting away with it because corporate media is letting

them.

Countless times Kerry and Clark have brought this very point up. Kerry did it during the debates, even, but if the media chooses to let their words pass without comment or discussion, the point never gets ingrained into the public psyche.

[leftchick]

16. all of the Democratic senators should be screaming about this

and writing op-eds to get it into the media.
The WH is lying to us about the real Iraq plans!!!!

[blm]

17. The have the opportunity every time they're asked what DEm plans are....

and it seems their own ambition gets in the way.

Kerry wrote an op ed last June 28 in the NYT and pointed squarely at the permanent base situation that BushInc was setting up and NO BROADCAST MEDIA or any other newspaper discussed what he said.

They are complicit.

[leftchick]

18. I remember Kerry's op-ed

and I agree the media is complicit. Hopefully it will all boil over so they can't ignore it, much like the Plame case.

peace to you blm. :)

[MadeinOhio]

6. After all this, its time to get troops who don't want .....

...to be there the hell out of there. The plan is insane, disastrous and will never bring regional stability. In fact the Iraqis hate us more now for suggesting coups....Of COURSE they want coups in their own land, with Americans stripping them of their oil fields!!!!!

How are our commanders not aware of this? As is the incompetent Donald Rumsfeld, lying on behalf of Cheney to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.

Rumsfeld must be thrown out and arrested, pay for all his crimes and this war must end permanently. Even if troops have to be there for years to come, the majority of them must be drawn out.

[indepat]

7. Enough to make one wonder if we won't be back 'til it's over over there

[Inland]

Worried we will be fighting the men we equipped, trained.

While we strain out baathists, religious militia members sign up for training. Anyone think that the reason they disappear on certain operations ISN'T cowardice? Or the reason why they join in attacks on Sunni areas is for a little pre-civil war fighting?

[Inland]

8. Worried we will be fighting the men we equipped, trained.

While we strain out baathists, religious militia members sign up for training. Anyone think that the reason they disappear on certain operations ISN'T cowardice? Or the reason why they join in attacks on Sunni areas is for a little pre-civil war fighting?

[blm]

20. Poppy had the original Baathist troops trained and put Saddam in power.

Amazing what journalists are willing to forget about the Bush family and their REAL record of "service" to our country.

[wtmusic]

9. Semi-permanent on a geologic scale

but that's a technicality.

[drduffy]

10. all of the core neocons

are in on this. It was 'foretold' by the dark and sinister oracle Meister Wolfowitz and later translated into the mysterious plan for global disaster by the acolytes of the PNAC.

I say hang em all - and especially the corporatist puppet masters. Traitors to America. Traitors to humanity. Arrogant parasite elitists who must themselves be ..... a euphemism might be 'fired'.

[AuntPatsy]

11. this needs a kick.