Even better than getting Iraqi oil

[Almighty Colin]

If successful, this would be one of the most important moves in the 1200 year old battle between the West and Islam.

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/20/internat...ial/20BASE.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/20/international/worldspecial/20BASE.html)
[You have to register]

WASHINGTON, April 19 — The United States is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region, senior Bush administration officials say.

American military officials, in interviews this week, spoke of maintaining perhaps four bases in Iraq that could be used in the future: one at the international airport just outside Baghdad; another at Tallil, near Nasiriya in the south; the third at an isolated airstrip called H-1 in the western desert, along the old oil pipeline that runs to Jordan; and the last at the Bashur air field in the Kurdish north.

The military is already using these bases to support operations against the remnants of the old government, to deliver supplies and relief aid and for reconnaissance patrols. But as the invasion force withdraws in the months ahead and turns over control to a new Iraqi government, Pentagon officials expect to gain access to the bases in the event of some future crisis.

Whether that can be arranged depends on relations between Washington and whoever takes control in Baghdad. If the ties are close enough, the military relationship could become one of the most striking developments in a strategic revolution now playing out across the Middle East and Southwest Asia, from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.



Last edited by Colin at Apr 20 2003, 04:04 AM

[XXXManager]

Fine by me :)
Finally an oil alternative conspiracy :rolleyes:
I believe this one though and see it as a positive move.
US presence in the middle of this ill infested region is a blessed one.

[Rolo]

Long term US bases in Iraq... wouldn´t that be used by hardcore muslims to stir up more terror?

[Mike AI]

Rolo, we have been having bases in the middle east forever. Militants are going to want to attack the US no matter what.

I think part of the IRaq invasion was to get these bases, to project our power, and try to bring stability to the region.... which is a massive undertaking... but since these people are so keen to come here to the US and kill our civilians en mass, we have no other choice.

[PornoDoggy]

Rolo, we have been having bases in the middle east forever.

Huh? Where are these bases we done been having? Do you really think that anything before Gulf War I can be defined as "forever"?

I want to see how the U.S. manages to both establish a "democratic" government in Iraq and obtains permission to keep bases there. It will be an interesting trick, because it will be a government under siege from most of its own population from day 1, and is guarateed to generate a lot of "these people" (a statement which really needs no comment at all).

Everybody keeps talking about the images from Iran reminding them of the fall of Communism. Me ... well, it reminds me more of 1979. It may have been "forever" ago, but IMHO it's one hell of a lot more relevant - and a lot closer to the east than the former Iron Curtain was to the North.

[Mike AI]

Everybody keeps talking about the images from Iran reminding them of the fall of Communism. Me ... well, it reminds me more of 1979. It may have been "forever" ago, but IMHO it's one hell of a lot more relevant - and a lot closer to the east than the former Iron Curtain was to the North.

Err wouldn't that be Iraq?

I for one could careless about the tearing down of statues... I know it was a handfull of people in a city of 5 million.

But I am confident that we will stabilize the region. That we will have a military presence - not to keep Iraq down, but to put pressure on Iraqs neighbors.

It is going to be a long HARD process, but I think it can be done....

Come on PD - think possitively for once.... all you can do is gripe, wring your hands, and predict doom and gloom...

[PornoDoggy]

Yes, Mike - my mistake. The pictures being shown on television today are in Iraq. IRAN is what they remind me of. I think we may have just deposed the Shah all over again.

It's all well and good for pompous assholes to make sanctimonious comments accusing people who think Iraq may lack cohesion after Saddam of inadequate faith in the Iraqi people. However, those same blowhards don't ever seem to explain what's going to make the Iraqi people any different from the residents of the former Yugoslavia.

You might even convince ME that the military presence in the region is not intended to "keep Iraq down, but to put pressure on Iraq’s neighbors" - but convincing the Iraqi people and the Arab street of that may be another matter entirely.

And at some point, Mike, whether you like it or not - there will come a shift from a military battle to the battle for the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people - one that cannot be won with guns. This administration in particular will always have a credibilty problem with the Arab world, and would have had a credibility problem with the Arab world even without the myriad of reasons dujour that we went to war with Iraq. I don't see the United States in a particularly strong position to win that war. I don't think that makes me a pessimist - I think that makes me a realist.

I repeat what I said before - I want to see how the U.S. manages to both establish a "democratic" government in Iraq and obtains permission to keep bases there. If GW can pull that off I will be more than happy to throw palm branches on his path as he rides his Ashcroft into Jerusalem.

As far as "all you can do is gripe, wring your hands, and predict doom and gloom..." - well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it, particularly if you are convinced the naked emperor is in fact wearing excellent attire. When I know I'm in a "long HARD process" I don't like to be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic.

I still want to know something about these military bases we've had in the Middle East since forever, though.

[slavdogg]

Reading this we might not need Iraqi or Saudi oil for much longer
http://www.discover.com/may_03/gthere.html...le=featoil.html (http://www.discover.com/may_03/gthere.html?article=featoil.html)
they claim they can turn waste into light crude.

what do you guys think of this ??

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by slavdogg@Apr 21 2003, 04:39 AM
Reading this we might not need Iraqi or Saudi oil for much longer
http://www.discover.com/may_03/gthere.html...le=featoil.html (http://www.discover.com/may_03/gthere.html?article=featoil.html)
they claim they can turn waste into light crude.

what do you guys think of this ??
I think the waste disposal business will get really hot if it can be sold instead of incinerated or buried. :okthumb:

[Almighty Colin]

Bases. Might "work". Might "not".

Democracy in Iraq. Might "work". Might "not".

Might take a long time? Sure. Anything wrong with that? Nope.