The United States is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases, senior Bush administration officials said.
U.S. military officials, in recent interviews, spoke of maintaining at least four bases in Iraq that could be used in the future: one at the international airport just outside Baghdad; another at Talil, 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 Americans are already using these bases to support continuing operations against the remnants of Saddam's government, to deliver supplies and relief aid, and for reconnaissance patrols.
"There will be some kind of a long-term defense relationship with a new Iraq, similar to Afghanistan," said one senior administration official. "The scope of that has yet to be defined -- whether it will be full-up operational bases, smaller forward operating bases or just plain access." (Albawaba.com)
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