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Report: U.S. wants access to military bases in Iraq By Haaretz Service and Agencies: 19/04/2003

The United States is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, which would allow the Pentagon access to military bases and "project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region," The New York Times quoted senior Bush administration officials as saying Sunday.

According to the report, American military officials have identified four bases that could be used in the future. The paper lists the four as being located at the international airport outside Baghdad; at Tallil, near the southern city of Nasiriyah; at an isolated airstrip called H-1 in the western desert, along the old oil pipeline running to Jordan; and at the Bashur air field in the Kurdish north.

According to the paper, the four bases are already in use by the American military to provide support for ongoing operations against the last vestiges of Saddam's regime, to deliver supplies and relief aid, and for reconnaissance patrols.

"There will be some kind of a long-term defense relationship with a new Iraq, similar to Afghanistan," the report quotes one senior administration official as saying. "The scope of that has yet to be defined - whether it will be full-up operational bases, smaller forward operating bases or just plain access."

Report: U.S. seeking phased end to Iraq sanctions
The New York Times also reported Saturday that the U.S. plans to ask the United Nations to lift sanctions against Iraq in phases, gradually turning over parts of the economy to a new Iraqi authority.

Quoting Bush administration officials, the paper said the step-by-step approach was the latest U.S. tactic to counter assertions by France, Russia and other Security Council members that they would oppose lifting sanctions without a broader role for the United Nations than envisaged by Washington.

Asked whether the Bush administration favored a phased end to international sanctions, one U.S. official told Reuters he was not familiar with such a proposal.

"I don't know if we've decided how we would go about it [getting sanctions lifted]," the official said. He added, "I just know the president wants to lift the sanctions."

The Times article said that in theory, France and Russia could veto the lifting of sanctions, possibly leading to a "messy situation" involving a slew of lawsuits.

"Nobody wants to have litigation on this," the article quoted one official as saying. "But the sanctions have to be modified or you can't have a reconstruction of Iraq."

Officials told the paper there had been a lot of discussion about the issue, with the administration now leaning toward having several UN resolutions and letting Iraqis build their economy in phases before getting full control of oil.

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