While officials have been saying there are no plans for any American bases in Iraq once U.S. troops withdraw, Kimmitt used slightly different language in a London speech earlier this week.
He said the U.S. will “not maintain any long-term bases in Iraq,” and added: “Our position is, when we leave, we will not have any bases there.”
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., wants the Pentagon to clarify what it means when it says it has no plans to establish bases in Iraq.
In a Feb. 8 letter, Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate and opponent of permanent bases in Iraq, is seeking clarification after Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. Central Command’s deputy director for strategy and plans, left doubts about U.S. intentions.
While officials have been saying there are no plans for any American bases in Iraq once U.S. troops withdraw, Kimmitt used slightly different language in a London speech earlier this week.
He said the U.S. will “not maintain any long-term bases in Iraq,” and added: “Our position is, when we leave, we will not have any bases there.”
The U.S. military has built more than 140 clearly temporary installations in Iraq and about 14 so-called “enduring bases,” that are not supposed to be permanent but are expected to remain in use for two to five years.
“For some time, a number of us have argued that it is vital to the success of our mission in Iraq for the United States to make clear in public that we seek no permanent military bases in Iraq,” Kerry says in the letter, noting that one factor fueling the insurgency is the sense of occupation by the U.S.
“A simple declaration that the United States seeks no permanent military bases in Iraq, I believe, will help undermine the claims of some home-grown insurgents who argue that the United States seeks to steal Iraq’s oil and dominate its people,” Kerry says in the letter.
