Operation Enduring Bases

For those out there that think we don't have to continue to marshal support for withdrawal from Iraq because the President is fixing to do that anyway, take a look at this:

From the ashes of abandoned Iraqi army bases, U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years.

Last year, as troops poured over the Kuwait border to invade Iraq, the U.S. military set up at least 120 forward operating bases. Then came hundreds of expeditionary and temporary bases that were to last between six months and a year for tactical operations while providing soldiers with such comforts as e-mail and Internet access.

Now 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 bases also would be key outposts for Bush administration policy advisers.

That doesn't sound like a policy of letting the Iraqis deal with their own security. The fact is we want to transfer our Middle Eastern beachhead from Saudi Arabia to Iraq. This keeps Halliburton and KBR building far into the future, and has the benefit, at least in theory, of having our troops in a country with hand-picked leaders loyal to US policy. I don't know whether that's the case anymore, considering the footsie game being played between Iraq and Iran. But since the original interim constitution mandates open markets and foreign investment, Baghdad is certainly a friendlier corporate environment than Riyadh for Big Oil.

The point of all this is, President Cheney and his cronies aren't looking to get out of Iraq. Ever. From their standpoint, it doesn't matter if they lose the war as long as they win the oil services contracts. It's high time a prominent Democrat (or Republican, a la Chuck Hagel) asked about these enduring bases, about what our long-term designs on the country are from the standpoint of the DoD.

(via Digby, whose related post on this topic is a must-read.)