Khalilzad Says What the Administration Won't On Permanent Bases In Iraq Posted by Suzanne Nossel

Juan Cole quotes US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad as saying in an interview with al Hayat as telling sectarian opponents of the US presence that:  "We don't want to stay in Iraq."  He's apparently concluded that one way to tamp down the hostility toward the American military, and perhaps even political tensions more broadly, is to reassure the relevant parties that America does not intend to station its military permanently in the country.  But President Bush and and Secretary Rumsfeld have never given such assurances, and - as Kevin Drum has reported - are instead allocating resources to build up what are said to be permanent military installations. 

Right now Khalilzad's efforts are about the only thing standing between Iraq and full-scale sectarian warfare.  Why won't the Administration support him by officially disavowing any intention to build permanent bases?

Comments

[Jay C]

Why won't the Administration support him by officially disavowing any intention to build permanent bases?

Suggested simple answer: Because establishment of permanent US military bases in Iraq has been the aim of the Bush Administration all along: but they are (as they have been all along) afraid to admit this (for fear of Iraqi opposition).

Seriously, what does one expect out of this clownshow Administration? Having been caught short (as with so much of their Iraq policy) by the non-appearance of the candy-and-flowers reception, replete with gushing gratitude from the indigenes for having been "liberated" - the peculiar nature of the "democratic" Government we have seen emerge from the wreckage of Ba'athism - the incipient civil war brewing over there (pace Adminstration shills' pooh-poohing); the issue of bases ,and their supposed "benefit" for the security of the region, and the US, is the last scrap of prewar policy remaining which has not been totally shredded and rendered irrelevant by events. Iraqis say "No" to US bases? Great: just what the Bush crew needs: a total rejection of the last credible rationale for the war!
Need we wonder why the "bases" issue stays under the radar??

[noah]

Would not military bases in Iraq be of great strategic importance? Master strategist Jay C apparently lacks the nuanced understanding to appreciate this.

I see a greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq. Sure we can assure them all day but on that day we announced withdrawal they would be begging us to stay!!

[Jay C]

Uhh, noah... I must modestly disclaim the title of "master strategist" (I am, after all, just a humble blog-commenter) - but in my comment I did not mean anywhere to suggest that US bases in Iraq might not be "important": merely that the Administration's policies in Iraq have pretty much, at this point in time, closed off (AFAICT) the chance that we might be able to establish such bases, since, now, the weight of (non-Kurdish) Iraqi opinion seems to be dead set against them.
For what it's worth: I agree with your vision of "...a greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq. as a reasonable scenario for the (hopefully near) future - but given the -as I see it- irremediably negative attitudes of so many Iraqis towards a US presence; the best, I think, we can hope for is a handful of Middle East Guantanamos: useful military facilities to discourage/prevent the emergence of an(other) overtly anti-American government in Iraq -or whatever is left of it; but bases planted amid a hostile and uncooperative populace.

[J Thomas]

Yes, military bases in iraq will be of great strategic importance.

While we can drop large numbers of large bombs anywhere in the world from B52s, we can't do that on short notice. It takes them long hours to reach their targets. And planes from carriers are very good but the pilots tend not to be intimately familiar with their targets -- a month ago they might have been in another part of the world, bombing someplace else. Plus there are limits to the number of planes a carrier can keep in the air at one time. High limits, but large bases are limited only by our ability to supply them.

So, suppose we wind up with the sort of operations the israelis were doing in lebanon. Their spies would tell them "Yassir Arafat is hiding in this mosqued we've pinpointed in east lebanon.". So they'd bomb the mosque. Then the spies would tell them, "You missed him by ten minutes. Now he's hiding in a hospital." So they'd bomb the hospital. And the spies would say "You missed him by five minutes. Now he's hiding in a kindergarten." So they'd bomb the kindergarten. "You missed him by seven minutes. Now he's hiding in a church." So they'd bomb the church. "You just barely missed him. Now he's hiding in a maternity clinic."

If the time comes that we're doing precision strikes on terrorist leaders or government figures in iran or syria or saudi arabia or whatever, we need nearby bases with lots of planes and lots of pilots who are intimately familiar with the targets. We sure don't want to be bombing the *wrong* hospitals and orphanages by mistake.

[noah]

Jay C,

A good idea for an internet business would be to set up a site so that blowhards like you and me could get a bet down on our respective positions. Your two posts contain a number of dubious pronouncements that I would be willing to bet on. Sort of like a Tradesports for sucker bets.

Gratuitous insults hurled against the Admin at every opportunity does not enhance your argument...they just make you sound like the typical BDS sufferer.

[Doc]

-get your bets down , gentlemen

[Diesel]

Hi ! Your site is very interesting. Thank you.

[Neo]

Bld duraba buy tramadol online here.

[Kontorcum]

There are certain things in life related to smoking that simply cannot :)
parça kontör
parça kontör bayiliği
parça kontör bayilik

[Asda Story gold]

Do you like the Asda Story money?I think that if you know it you will like it. If you have it you can go to buy Asda Story Gold and then you can go to buy equipment to arm yourself. You can also get some cheap Asda Story gold from the game. Join us and play the game with us together.

[gw gold]

I hope i can get GuildWars Gold in low price.

[ghost gold]

I likeghost gold, it brings me many happiness. If you haveghost online gold, you can help others.

[12sky gold]

Once I played 12sky, I did not know how to get strong, someone told me that you must have twelve sky Gold. He gave me some 12sky gold.

[buy shaiya gold]

I like theshaiya gold, my brother usually
shaiya money for me. I appriciate him

[World of Warcraft Gold]

Do you like playing the game where you need to use wow gold, when you do not have World of Warcraft Gold,

[christian louboutin]

Growing old is not upsetting; being perceived as old is.

[Network]

thanks for sharing Sohbet many people are pay more attention to one's swearing than before, especially a watch.Muhabbet.
Perhaps when you went to some place far away Sohbet you must borrow it from friends you can get everything you want in this game Chat money to invest in other industry which will return you good profit. Sohbet when you look at Chat
the surface of the watches viaload great any cool Exsohbet from the city you live in and thought you knew nobody there Egitim Fourth, there were various signs of political conflict among shia. If they split 3 ways or 4 ways, the sunnis and the kurds could often be the Sohbet swing votes in the politics. If they felt they had political clout out of proportion to their numbers, they could settle in Sohbet and do politics and not feel oppressed.

[modern desk]

The last scrap of prewar policy remaining which has not been totally shredded and rendered irrelevant by events.

[New Foreclosure Online]

I see a greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq. Sure they can assure all day but on that day they announced withdrawal they would be begging us to stay!!

[wishbone bracelets]

In my opinion the negative attitudes of so many Iraqis towards a US presence is not good for both the countries.

[Professor Prosperity]

US,is the last scrap of prewar policy remaining which has not been totally shredded and rendered irrelevant by events.

[office cleaning services]

I agree with your vision of "a greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq."

[Max Furniture]

There are limits to the number of planes a carrier can keep in the air at one time.High limits, but large bases are limited only by their ability to supply them.

[BathroomWholesale.com]

I think, we can hope for is a handful of Middle East Guantanamos: useful military facilities to discourage the emergence of an overtly anti American government in Iraq

[old phone]

I think it is greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq.

[Home Protect Home Warranty]

I think, they can hope for is a handful of Middle East Guantanamos: useful military facilities to discourage/prevent the emergence of an overtly anti-American government in Iraq -or whatever is left of it.

[Max Furniture]

He's apparently concluded that one way to tamp down the hostility toward the American military, and perhaps even political tensions more broadly, is to reassure the relevant parties that America does not intend to station its military permanently in the country.

[Danny DeMichele Entrepreneur]

There are limits to the number of planes a carrier can keep in the air at one time. High limits, but large bases are limited only by our ability to supply them.

[Frieght Broker]

Does he not realize that Pakistan stands a better chance of achieving all of those things through continued support to a winning insurgency than it does to a long and drawn out series of reconciliation talks?

[AppraiserNow.com]

Really they nearby bases with lots of planes and lots of pilots who are intimately familiar with the targets.

[水着]

お客さんもバンドメンバーも、そしてスタッフも下着全員女子というひなまつりバージョンで開催されたこのイベントは、まずはトークコーナーからスタート。普段は見ることのできない近藤夏子の一人暮らしの部屋を動画で公開し、実際にお部屋にある水着お気に入りグッズを会場で披露するというサービスっぷり。
その後、会場に集まったファンから近藤夏子へのぶっちゃ女性 水着け質問を募集し、その質問に直接答えたり、恋愛に関する悩み相談をするなど、会場中は、完全に女子会状態。女子だけということでぶっちゃけトークにも花が咲き下着 激安1時間以上にわたる大盛り上がりなトークコーナー下着 通販を経て、後半はライブへ。
2月9日にリリースとなった「うつむきスマイル」を中心に9曲を披水着　通販露した近藤夏子だったが、この日バンドメンバーには元プリンセス・プリンセスのベーシスト渡辺敦子の姿も。プリンセス・プリンセスの大ヒット曲「ダイアモンド」を、渡辺敦子のハモリとともにカバーを披露、ライブも大変な盛り上がりを見せた。
アンコールで披露された「別に。」では、いつものライブではタオルが振り回され水着　激安るところだが、今回は女子限定ということで、なんと女性用下着がぶんぶん振り回されるというビックリな光景も。事前にTwitterやブログで告知されていただけに、集まったファンも思い思いにいろいろなものを振り回し、最高のひな祭りイベントは幕を下ろした。

[Australian Fishing]

I think, we can hope for is a handful of Middle East Guantanamos: useful military facilities to discourage/prevent the emergence of an(other) overtly anti-American government in Iraq -or whatever is left of it; but bases planted amid a hostile and uncooperative populace.

[水着]

彼らはリンクを取得するための最良の方法は、女性 水着人気サイト、人気のサイトを持っレディース水着てするための最良の方法を持っている人々はそのためそれとビキニリンクすることです判断するため、コンテンツの達人に来る場所もちろん、ここにある、コンテンツが必要よい。そして、彼らはそうだ。人々は最初の場所でそれを見つける方法を – ウェブサイトはあなたが考える必要があ水着　通販る荒野に追放される良質なコンテンツは良い品質のリンクを生じさせるのだろうか？バックは人気の指標である、それはGoogleが正確にWebサイトは、任意の特定の検索が実行されたときに配置する必要がありますここで判断するゲージとして水着　激安使用することができる唯一の​​ことだ。したがって、（検索エンジンの目の前に）ワンピース水着人気がある必要があります – あなたのサイトを指しているバックの多くは、あなたがリンク
して価値があると信じて他のサイトから来ているでしょう。

[Income at Home]

Plus there are limits to the number of planes a carrier can keep in the air at one time. High limits, but large bases are limited only by our ability to supply them.

[directory Melbourne]

A good idea for an internet business would be to set up a site so that blowhards like me could get a bet down on our positions.

[sell old cell]

He also served in two other crucial posts during the Bush administration: as ambassador to Afghanistan — where he was known as “the viceroy” — and ambassador to Iraq.

[crowdSPRING]

Very nice content..Glad to read..I like your blog very much..It is worth to read..Hope you will continue to post such type of post in future also..

[Nike Blazer (black/red/white)]

Hey, I found your blog on Google, and enjoy checking out. Thank you for your useful and detailed post. I'll bookmark you.

[eBridge interactive]

I go through from your blog its really so interesting and very knowledgeable,Thanks to sharing here,I would like to appreciate you to post some more blogs...

[WFG Online]

The town's most distinctive feature is the long runway that bisects it. Air Force officials say it is now one of the world's busiest.

[Total Protect Home Warranty]

Well I see a greatly reduced presence but no complete withdrawal from Iraq..I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.

[timberland men boots]

Finish see this son of the building Lord later, my heart can't be calm once in a very long while, shock! A long time why would like a son that like! From thinking any further can't there any son can move me, have never thought to be in so to see the masterly thread
timberland men boots/a>http://www.timberlandbootssales.com/

[wowgold]

A safe website always work hard in order to make sure can deliver each Buy Gold for WOW order within 15 minutes, no matter how many World of Warcraft realms there are!

[Kripalu ji Maharaj]

Negative attitudes of so many Iraqis towards a US presence is not good for both the countries. They should really rely on this!

[IncomeatHome]

A long time why would like a son that like! From thinking any further can't there any son can move me, have never thought to be in so to see the masterly thread