Eventually, U.S. units would end up concentrated at the four heavily fortified, strategically located hubs, enabling them to provide continued logistical support and emergency combat assistance, the officers said.
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Nonetheless, the consolidation plan appears to reflect a judgment by U.S. military commanders that American forces are likely to be in Iraq for some years, even after their numbers begin to decline, and that they probably will continue to face danger. The new buildings are being designed to withstand direct mortar strikes, according to a senior military engineer. Funding for the first group of redesigned barracks was included in the $82 billion supplemental war-spending bill approved by Congress this month, he said.
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According to Yenter and others working on the plan, the four bases were chosen to enable U.S. forces to maintain a foothold in various regions of Iraq. Centered around airfields to facilitate resupply operations and troop mobility, the four are Tallil in the south, Al Asad in the west, Balad in the center and either Irbil or Qayyarah in the north.
Each base is being designed to hold a brigade-size combat team plus aviation units and other support personnel. Initially referred to in planning documents as "enduring bases," the term was changed in February to "contingency operating bases."
"We didn't want to pick places that are too near Iraqi population centers, but we did want ones that would still allow us to influence an area and give us some power projection capability," said the general, who is involved in the planning and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Washington Post, 25 May 2005In the longer term, the U.S. military plans to fall back further into a handful of large "contingency operating bases," each with an airfield and logistical capabilities and able to accommodate at least one U.S. combat brigade.
Washington Post, Dec 17 2005With the bases chosen that long ago, direct questions ought to be asked now: "How many years do you plan to keep US troops in the Tallil base?" etc. There's also the matter of the world's largest, most secure embassy being built in Baghdad - ask why it needs to be so large, unless the USA plans on running the Iraqi government from it.