Military seeks more air bases
Authorities hope to replace troops.
By Associated Press
05/14/06 -- - DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The U.S.
military is preparing for the day when air power from bases
along the Persian Gulf will help ensure that friendly
governments in Iraq and Afghanistan survive without American
ground troops, a senior U.S. general said.
"We’ll be in the region for the foreseeable future," said U.S.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy air commander of U.S.
Central Command, which oversees the region. "Our intention would
be to stay as long as the host nations will have us."
Agreements have been struck recently with Qatar, Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates for long-term use of their bases. Already
home to U.S. and allied fighter, transport and observation
planes, the bases will become more critical if plans proceed to
gradually withdraw ground forces from Iraq.
A capable Iraqi air force is years away, and Iraqi infantry need
the backup and surveillance provided by U.S. warplanes, Peck
said. The bases also could help rush soldiers into Iraq in a
crisis. The Pentagon has been keeping thousands of troops in
reserve in Kuwait, on Iraq’s southern border.
Not everyone is convinced.
The Bush administration declines to say it won’t seek to keep
bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the U.S. military is spending
almost $1 billion this year for base construction in Iraq alone.
The base at Balad, for example, has been expanded to host F-16
fighter and C-130 transport squadrons.
A former Iraq intelligence chief for the Department of State,
Wayne White, said he believes one of the administration’s
unstated pre-invasion goals was to secure permanent U.S.
military bases in Iraq after overseeing the installation of a
pro-American government.
Peck, however, said he knew of no current U.S. plans to maintain
permanent air bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Because of the Iraqi insurgency, experts say bases in the
Persian Gulf nations are a better option, given the long
relationships Washington has had with them. But there are risks
even in those countries, where many people harbor suspicions of
U.S. policy. Osama bin Laden and other Islamic radicals agitate
against the U.S. military presence in the Muslim world. A huge
U.S. air base and headquarters in Saudi Arabia was closed before
the invasion of Iraq because of fundamentalists’ pressure on the
Saudi government.
Indeed, U.S. diplomats and some military officers interviewed
for this article agreed to discuss the matter only on condition
of anonymity because Arab governments have asked the U.S.
military not to publicize their presence.
The Air Force operates refueling, cargo and surveillance flights
from large bases in Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, while maintaining
runway access and warehoused supplies in Oman and Saudi Arabia.
The plan Peck described would have the Air Force eventually
consolidate most of its Iraq operations in the Persian Gulf
bases.
Afghanistan’s military also could be backed up from Manas Air
Base in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic where U.S.
officials are negotiating a long-term agreement. The Kyrgyz
government has requested a doubling of the base rental, Peck
said.
The U.S. base at Incirlik, Turkey, could also enter into the
equation. For now, the Turkish government, a NATO ally, allows
the U.S. military to operate only cargo, refueling and passenger
flights to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the
United States has based fighter jets there in the past.
Peck and others caution that the shift would take years. The top
U.S. officer in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, recently said plans to
begin reducing the U.S. presence this year are still on track.
But President George W. Bush also has said the counterinsurgency
mission in Iraq will continue at least through the end of his
term in January 2009.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
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