For the third year in a row, Congress approved the FCNL-initiated proposal to ban the U.S. government from establishing permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. The prohibition reads
No funds appropriated pursuant to an authorization of appropriations in this Act may be obligated or expended for a purpose as follows:
(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq.
(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.
Yet Balad Air Base is among the world's busiest airports - in 2006 it was reported as second only to London's Heathrow Airport2. Bases like Balad are large enough to house internal bus lines, motorcycle and car dealerships, shopping malls, and even traffic- jammed roads3. The U.S. embassy in Iraq - the largest embassy in the world - approximates the size of the Vatican and runs its own electrical, power, and sewage plants. As former U.S. ambassador to Iraq Edward Peck said, "The embassy is going to have a thousand people hunkered behind sandbags. I don't know how you conduct diplomacy in that way"4.
These mixed signals do little to allay Iraqi fears about U.S. intentions in Iraq. A 2006 poll revealed that 77% of the Iraqi public believed the United States was planning to leave permanent bases in Iraq, and 78% believed the United States would keep these bases even if the Iraqi government requested their removal5. Now that the Iraqi government has asked for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops by December 31, 2011, it is imperative that the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress match the "no permanent bases" policy with a corresponding reduction of the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
FCNL urges the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress to send a clear signal to both the U.S. and Iraqi people that the U.S. does not intend to build or maintain permanent bases in Iraq. We also urge both branches of government to provide greater transparency of the cost and magnitude of the U.S. military presence there. We provide this map in order to shed light on the already colossal U.S. military presence in the country to inform the policy debate on the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq.
