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Opinion

America's superbases in Iraq

When you read the newspaper, do you read the news about Iraq, or do you just skip it? Even if you read it, it doesn't tell you much, does it? Most of it is written by reporters who live in barricaded fortresses and rarely go outside. Guardian correspondent Maggie O'Kane recently wrote, "We no longer know what's going on, but we are pretending we do."

If the news reporters in Iraq can't learn what's going on there, then neither can we. But I recently read some news, not about Iraq but about the United States in Iraq, that is probably true. The United States has more than 100 bases there. The military has denied that it intends to keep them. Probably it will leave most of them when it either withdraws from the country or is kicked out. But at least four of these bases, observers say, are superbases, clearly built for permanent occupation.

This is something you won't read about often in the news. U.S. politicians insist that the United States does not intend to keep permanent bases in Iraq. And the debate in the United States today is about when the U.S. military should leave — immediately, or next year, or a few years after that. Nobody is arguing that it should stay permanently.

At least, no one is arguing that openly. But the United States is spending billions of dollars building superbases that look quite permanent to those who visit them.

For example, Balad Air Base: Tom Ricks of the Washington Post writes that the base is so big it has "neighborhoods" with a "small-town feel" and, in addition to its 250 aircrafts, military infrastructure, hospital, etc., has shops and restaurants (including major chain stores, such as Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, etc.) and a miniature golf course. Of the 20,000 troops stationed there, few ever go outside. The al-Asad Air Base, writes Oliver Poole for Britain's Daily Telegraph, is so big that it has two internal bus lines and a Hertz rent-a-car office.

Of course this is nothing new. But for the fact that it is dangerous to go outside, this could be a description of Kadena Air Base here on Okinawa. This is how the U.S. military builds its bases everywhere, as little Americas catering mainly to the tastes of the adolescents who make up most of their personnel. And when you read these descriptions you can understand the military has no more intention of leaving Iraq than they have of leaving Okinawa.

No one knows what will happen in Iraq, but my guess is that the United States will eventually be driven out, as it was from Vietnam. When that happens, what will happen to these bases? It is one thing to drive the United States out of Iraqi society, but quite another to drive these massively fortified walled cities out from the land altogether. Will they be kept there by sheer force, American "implants" in a hostile country, like the U.S. naval base is kept at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? That would be a strange result, after such a great loss of life.

(518 words)

Discussion: What is your reaction to these superbases?

Shukan ST: April 21, 2006

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Opinion America's superbases in Iraq By Douglas Lummis When you read the newspaper, do you read the news about Iraq, or do you just skip it? Even if you read it, it doesn't tell you much, does it? Most of it is written by reporters who live in barricaded fortresses and rarely go outside. Guardian correspondent Maggie O'Kane recently wrote, "We no longer know what's going on, but we are pretending we do." If the news reporters in Iraq can't learn what's going on there, then neither can we. But I recently read some news, not about Iraq but about the United States in Iraq, that is probably true. The United States has more than 100 bases there. The military has denied that it intends to keep them. Probably it will leave most of them when it either withdraws from the country or is kicked out. But at least four of these bases, observers say, are superbases, clearly built for permanent occupation. This is something you won't read about often in the news. U.S. politicians insist that the United States does not intend to keep permanent bases in Iraq. And the debate in the United States today is about when the U.S. military should leave — immediately, or next year, or a few years after that. Nobody is arguing that it should stay permanently. At least, no one is arguing that openly. But the United States is spending billions of dollars building superbases that look quite permanent to those who visit them. For example, Balad Air Base: Tom Ricks of the Washington Post writes that the base is so big it has "neighborhoods" with a "small-town feel" and, in addition to its 250 aircrafts, military infrastructure, hospital, etc., has shops and restaurants (including major chain stores, such as Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, etc.) and a miniature golf course. Of the 20,000 troops stationed there, few ever go outside. The al-Asad Air Base, writes Oliver Poole for Britain's Daily Telegraph, is so big that it has two internal bus lines and a Hertz rent-a-car office. Of course this is nothing new. But for the fact that it is dangerous to go outside, this could be a description of Kadena Air Base here on Okinawa. This is how the U.S. military builds its bases everywhere, as little Americas catering mainly to the tastes of the adolescents who make up most of their personnel. And when you read these descriptions you can understand the military has no more intention of leaving Iraq than they have of leaving Okinawa. No one knows what will happen in Iraq, but my guess is that the United States will eventually be driven out, as it was from Vietnam. When that happens, what will happen to these bases? It is one thing to drive the United States out of Iraqi society, but quite another to drive these massively fortified walled cities out from the land altogether. Will they be kept there by sheer force, American "implants" in a hostile country, like the U.S. naval base is kept at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? That would be a strange result, after such a great loss of life. (518 words) Discussion: What is your reaction to these superbases? Shukan ST: April 21, 2006 (C) All rights reserved