The 'complete immunity from Iraqi law' thing concerns me more than a little, considering that our soldiers in the countries of every other ally we have in the world are held accountable.

Also, your source is Al-Jazeera!! I'd be really suspicious of this article if it hadn't taken most of its details from The Independent.

I think it's dumb but then again I think having bases all over the world is dumb.  I haven't really read about this though so I don't know all about it 100%.

My first response is "oh fuck no"

Also, your source is Al-Jazeera!! I'd be really suspicious of this article if it hadn't taken most of its details from The Independent.

that's cool and all but al-Jazeera is not state-run news.  it gets a bad rap for a lot of shit but al-Jazeera English is really trying hard!

I also heard we were moving some troops out of Japan so you just switch one shitty base for another and THERE YOU GO

military bases are known to subsequently drive down the price of real estate while boosting economy.

shitty neighborhood vs. more money.

this is tough.

14 Permanent Bases in Iraq Planned by U.S. Military

"The supplemental funding bill for the war in Iraq signed by President Bush in early May 2005 provides money for the construction of bases for U.S. forces that are described as "in some very limited cases, permanent facilities." Several recent press reports have suggested the U.S. is planning up to 14 permanent bases in Iraq— a country that is only twice the size of the state of Idaho."

14 'Enduring Bases' set in Iraq

Extended U.S. presence in...well, you get the picture.

Is this seriously any big surprise?  Iraq oil exports just exceeded over 2 million barrels per day, and they're hoping to boost this to 6 million per day in the near future.

I can't imagine why one of the top petroleum consumers in the world would want to maintain a permanent military presence in this country.  Really.

What's wrong with Al-Jazeera? It's a pretty serious news network!!

Especially the English version which has a pretty good TV station (although I prefer CNN if something important happens).

It's not horrible but I thought it was pretty biased (I.E., the Fox News of the Middle East), although I suppose one can logically conclude that any Middle Eastern news outlet will probably have some anti-Western sentiments.

Oh my this IS shocking, honestly i saw this coming from the very start of the war...It doesnt make sense for them to do anything else really does it?

i am not in favor of this at all but i am just dropping by to say

i would assume that the exemption from iraqi law is there to keep women in our military from being subjected to some of the backwards bullshit that goes on in that region concerning gender

or just to stop all the street stonings that would happen when the fucking marines come in and decide to rape everything

Alright, before anymore idiots come in here without fully reading the article or understanding what's going on let me clear up some things:

First, the only source of this news is The Independent (why is Al Jazeera, a news source, quoting another news source as their reference??) which is a British newspaper that has a history with exposition and stretching the truth in favor of the Labour party/far left-wing politics.  It's funny how they claimed 50 when other sources say as low as 13 and the fucking ambassodor himself says NONE.  Regardless, a "permanent" base means absolutely jack shit because military bases are dissolved all the damn time.

Another problem with the whole issue - is that if you're a democrat - as I am, the promise of ever getting out of Iraq is ka-put.  It would just look bad to promise such - and not being able to go through with it.

As a democrat (hell, as a human who has studied history in general), you should know that it takes a long long long long long time for a country actively participating in war to remove themselves after it is over.  How long did Britian maintain control over Hong Kong??

This doesn't mean that there won't be military activity.  A base makes it easier to conduct peace operations (community service ring a bell) and diplomatic relations with the local government.  However, this is also an agreement between the American government and the Iraqi government.  Either the Iraqi government is being MIIIIND CONTROLLLED into signing the agreement or, hey, maybe they realize they aren't in a position to operate independently yet who knows?  Regardless, consolidating from 100+ bases to 14-20 bases is definitely what I would call "getting out of Iraq."  It's very very very very unrealistic to expect a TOTAL WITHDRAWL "PACK YOUR BAGS GUYS" but cutting the number of troops by almost three quarters in less than 5 years is pretty fucking fast movement for government activities.

This brings me to my next point:

The whole 'exempt from law' bit is bullshit.

or just to stop all the street stonings that would happen when the fucking marines come in and decide to rape everything

There's a little thing called the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  This little son of a bitch is one of the strictest doctrines in the world and it keeps military folks from "raping everything".  The "exempt from law" is an innacurate term for an agreement between a country's government and the military which means that if anything should happen to a US military member then that government can't hold them prisoner; they have to be returned to the base.

Rest assured that if anyone in the military tried something stupid especially in a foreign country, the hammer would fall resoundingly on their heads.  If a marine raped and murdered children in Iraq the country would be forced to return him to base but he'd be stripped of all rank, money, and thrown in military prison for the rest of his life.

And yes, military prison is something to be afraid of.  It's a whole different ball game in their.  You think all those prisons you see on tv are tough, try going to a prison with guys that are used to the idea of "rank" and "privilege" and have actual combat training.  If you don't mind your manners and show respect there then you've got a bunch of fucking marines beating the tar out of you and the prison guards really don't care.

My god. USA can't just leave after killing the 'terrorists', they have to stay in Iraq afterwards. The whole 'exempt from law' bit is bullshit. Why should they be? They never should have gone there, anyway. "They have weapons of mass destruction." "They have nuclear weapons (Iran)." "They're going to attack us because we invaded [bordering country]." This is bullshit, there was never any good reason to invade any of those countries, the US just wants to make its power felt in the Middle East. It's doing a damn good job of pissing them off. We're killing enemies that never would have *been* enemies.

are you really so dumb as to not see the benefit of removing saddam hussein from power

I was going to jump all over the al jazeera source but it seems that has already been done.. I say take this with a grain of salt because of the source.  However, it is very believable because there are still military bases throughout the world like in Korea and Japan and those countries are extremely independent, so that kind of kills the lack of independence arguement

Not to mention that the presence of the United States in Japan and Korea has contributed significantly to their current state of development.

are you really so dumb as to not see the benefit of removing saddam hussein from power

The benefit in removing Saddam is debatable at best.  On the one hand you're removing a despicable asshole who killed thousands of people during his reign.  On the other, you just removed the one guy that was keeping a full fledged civil war from erupting in the country and who was keeping Iran somewhat in check.


Anyways I wouldn't worry about these bases.  Congress can basically stop Bush and McCain from getting anywhere with this by simply cutting off funds for them.