Visiting a U.S. military base in Iraq can feel a little like a trip down Alice’s Wonderland rabbit hole. Inside the barbed-wire fences and flood lights, and just past the tanks and attack helicopters, is a slice of Americana. In between their dangerous duties, soldiers talk about the latest sporting events back home, work out in fully equipped gyms, go to the movies, and eat Pop-Tarts and Baskin Robbins ice cream in mess halls adorned with state flags and university banners as Fox News blares in the background.
It’s almost like home, these forward operating bases, known in military jargon as FOBs. (And those whose duties do not require them to leave the base are known as Fobbits.) Clearly, the ambience is no accident. Back in Washington, D.C., the Congress and White House are heatedly debating when to bring the troops home from Iraq. But a visit to one of these FOBs seems to suggest something else: the troops are digging in for a long stay.
From what I’ve seen, the U.S. military’s continuing infrastructure expansion at some forward operating bases, especially those with landing strips for fixed-wing aircraft, clearly signals that Iraq will be America’s South Korea or Germany of the 21st century. Bush administration officials have hinted as much. Sure, U.S. soldiers will rotate in and out, but the armed forces are here to stay.
A cursory look at one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of buildings on FOB Speicher in northern Iraq provides some interesting anecdotal signs. During my last evening on a recent embed there, one of my Navy escorts took me to a brand-new mass hall, where we used real crockery and cutlery--quite an upgrade from the normal plastic ware. Eventually, Speicher will be handed over to the Iraqi Army because it’s not considered one of America’s “legacy” bases-- meaning long term--but that didn’t stop them from adding new infrastructure.
The same goes in other parts of Iraq. A recent report in The Washington Post said the Pentagon plans to spend $738 million on 33 “critical” construction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan, and intends to continue building up military infrastructure in the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa. Given that Balad Air Base in Iraq is the busiest military airport in the world, it’s easy to visualize where the biggest U.S. military footprint will be for the next decade.
The House of Representatives passed a bill on July 25 banning permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. This is part of the Democrats’ strategy to bring the troops home. Good luck. The bill’s language is so vague that President George W. Bush likely won’t even have to veto it if it gets to his desk. What in Iraq even qualifies as “permanent” these days?
Congress is fooling itself. They want U.S. military operations in Iraq limited to border security, counterterrorism and training the Iraqi Army. That alone, according to various analysts, would require that at least 75,000 American troops remain in Iraq indefinitely. However much they dress up the bases, those soldiers are still going to be a very long way from home.
