American Forces and Military Bases Still in Iraq

The American media have discovered that the U.S. is present in 14 locations in Iraq, but where they are situated has not been confirmed. The U.S. and Iraqi governments signed an agreement to execute a total withdrawal of the U.S. forces from our country till the end of the last year. That is what our officials and institutions have been tirelessly trying to convince us every time a question or headline about the American presence in secret locations and in the U.S. Embassy appears.

The Embassy of the United States in Baghdad, Iraq is the biggest in the world in terms of buildings, space and number of employees. It is practically a military base, not just an embassy dealing with diplomatic work. Many people are not against American presence and the U.S.’ assistance to Iraq, but they want it to be done in accordance to what is customary, not secretly. They criticize and fear information that is hidden from them. They want it to be obvious and clear. They do not like being surprised by the American media with this or that issue, and most of all, they want to know what the Iraqi government knows about the U.S. presence in Iraq.

This time the news came from the U.S. in a report from the Washington Post claiming that there are 14 locations in Iraq where American forces are deployed. The government recognizes 12 of them, including five that there is an agreement on. This information is new and came after the national government had been denying their existence altogether, except on the U.S. Embassy site, where there are thousands of employees (including military forces), a helipad and maybe even more that we don’t have data on. The number of employees is 16,500, but there is a desire to reduce it to 11,500. The problem is that the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the armed forces’ commander in chief supported by the U.S., was silent about this secret presence, even though he denies the problems facing the security agreement and American accusations that the government hampers arrival of the reinforcements, which blindly contradicts the situation.

Frankness and openness toward the Iraqi people enhance the confidence with which they hold the government and remove the doubts that destroy its credibility, especially when what it hides would not constitute a secret to any foreigner interested in the issue. They have their ways leading to this information anyway. Those who hold political positions in U.S.-Iraq relations and military cooperation would understand the national government’s idea better and maybe would be less sensitive if they were armed with helpful data and information.