This is great news, reported by Reuters:
Iraq will never allow the United States to have permanent military bases on its soil, the government's national security adviser said."We need the United States in our war against terrorism, we need them to guard our border sometimes, we need them for economic support and we need them for diplomatic and political support," Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said.
"But I say one thing, permanent forces or bases in Iraq for any foreign forces is a red line that cannot be accepted by any nationalist Iraqi," he told Dubai-based al Arabiya television in an interview broadcast late on Monday.
Of course, I am sure that the CIA and DOD are now plotting as to how to remove al-Rubaie from office and put him on trial on some imaginary charges. Bush and the neocons won't take it lightly if the Iraqis decide that they do not want permanent US bases on their soil. It blows up their grand vision of an "American caliphate" stretching from Cairo to Teheran in the Middle East.
I also find it pretty hilarious that al-Rubaie says that they need us for "economic support". I wonder if he has checked the price of oil lately. I mean, how high does it have to go before Iraq doesn't require a massive infusion of billions of dollars a year from the US? Wasn't this war supposed to pay for itself?
Maybe one day the right-wingers who are deeply embittered over the debacle in Iraq will rediscover their love for self-sufficiency and independence, and apply those principles to the motley group that is currently running Iraq. After all, if we can kick people off of welfare here at home, why can't we do it in Iraq?
Comments (1)
Makes sense.
We don't have permanent bases in Kuwait either.
After the Iraqis get on their feet, I see no need to have a permanent base there. Besides, the gulf is right there, and we still have carrier battle groups and amphibious assault groups for crackin' any heads that need it.
1. Posted by ExSubNuke | December 11, 2007 9:21 PM
Posted on December 11, 2007 21:21