How do people find out about all these big bases the US built in Iraq?

[raccoon]

...After the invasion of 2003, the Pentagon promptly started constructing a series of monster bases in occupied Iraq, the size of small American towns and with most of the amenities of home. These were for a projected garrison of 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops that top officials of the Bush administration initially anticipated would be free to hang out in that country for an armed eternity. In the end, hundreds of bases were built. (And now, hundreds have been closed down or handed over to the Iraqis and in some cases looted)...

From article 'Shunning the Word “Permanent” And With Good Reason' by Tom Engelhardt

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/04/22

I don't doubt the existence of these bases for one minute. I never heard them mentioned in the MSM. :rofl: Imagine that.

So where do people like Tom Engelhardt find out about these things?

[closeupready]

1. Sometimes you find out about them from expats.

nt

[RKP5637]

2. We live in a parallel universe. One is the universe of truth, the other is the universe of MSM. n/t

[HopeHoops]

3. eBay

[Gravel Democrat]

4. Ever hear of the 1000 acre base that sprung up like a mushroom after PNAC/Kosovo bombing?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_25RWm7Cm9IM/R7wuXXwKeFI/AAAAAAAAAO4/luVOhZyzB48/s400/Picture+1.png


Camp Bondsteel is the main base of the United States Army under KFOR command in Kosovo. Located near Uroševac in the eastern part of Kosovo, the base serves as the NATO headquarters for KFOR's Multinational Brigade East (MNBG-E). The base is named after Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient United States Army Staff Sergeant James L. Bondsteel.

Few care... It's Baseball season

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Bondsteel

http://newamericancentury.org/balkans.htm

"They abuse us because we like it"

[SoCalDem]

5. When the civil war starts in earnest there, Moqtada al Sadr's guys will overrun them

and we will see photos & film on Al Jazeera :(

[Zorra]

6. They don't matter anymore. Giant multinational oil companies have now set up

shop in Iraq. A puppet government has been installed that will make deals with these companies to provide protection and cooperation for a slice of the pie.

Our governments' "World Police" work in Iraq is basically finished except for some nagging loose ends. We'll remain in Iraq until the oil companies feel that Iraq is "stable" enough for them to conduct business as usual without fear of having their profit stream disrupted. More than likely, a relatively small contingent of US troops will stay there to insure that things are running smoothly enough for the oil companies to feel secure in their operations.

[Ezlivin]

7. Get stationed there

My nephew was recently transferred to Camp Diamondback in Mosul, Iraq.

You can find it on Google Earth.

In fact, you can find a lot of bases using Google Earth.

[Igel]

8. Newspapers and magazines, mostly.

They talked a lot about building permanent bases. Rumsfeld and DOD folk said where they'd be built and who they'd house.

They also pointed out that they were going to replace temporary bases that consisted of a few trailors and wood-frame buildings and lots of tents. Nobody much cared when the tents provided little security to US forces or when there was no AC or heat. There was a huge outcry when tents that prisoners were held in provided scant protection against mortar attacks, so that prisoners were wounded and killed. And that prisoners native to the area (or similar areas) were forced to live in tents in the blistering Iraqi summer was simply unacceptable.

The US has moved out of permanent bases in the past when the lease expired. In other words, it's possible to have a permanent temporary base and to have a temporary permanent base. The range of meanings you have for the words isn't sufficiently ample.

[Wilms]

9. .

[Marblehead]

10. Oil bases

funded and manned by the American taxpayer.

[damntexdem]

11. Doesn't matter -- they were built by Halliburton.

They're falling apart and won't be there long. ;-)